


In the Public Eye

by AniPendragon



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fake Married, Alternate Universe - Volume Three Doesn't Exist, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, M/M, Mild Language, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2017-04-09
Packaged: 2018-05-20 11:57:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 42
Words: 113,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6005101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AniPendragon/pseuds/AniPendragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In an instant, everything changes when James accidentally says he’s married to Qrow in his rush to get to the man. He’s not, but he doesn’t realize what he’s done until the world has latched on. Now Qrow and Ironwood must navigate the world as fake newlyweds, with only Glynda and Ozpin in on their schemes. But close proximity is trying at the best of times, and as sparks – both good and bad – fly, Qrow and James aren’t sure how long they can keep this up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. He's My Husband!

**Author's Note:**

> This is a happy Volume 3 AU. There's no Cinder Fall, Mercury and Emerald are just mean transfer students, and the maidens can kiss my ass. Ozpin is still Ozpin though. Basically, this entire story revolves around a ridiculous premise and then plays it completely straight. And I regret nothing.
> 
> In other news, the finale broke me, so here, have a ~~happy no-one dies~~ Volume 3 AU that's probably not as painful as the actual show. In theory. Also there is actually a plot to this beyond Fake Married tropes, so I hope y'all enjoy that too.

The explosion in the warehouse section of Outer Vale rocked the ground clear to Beacon and, by the time the smoke had started to settle, James was halfway to the explosion. His scroll went off, revealing Ozpin’s face.

“Yours?” guessed James, hoping it was one of Ozpin’s students. His ship hummed around him, the pilot steering a fast course to the warehouses.

“No, unknown entity. Qrow was in the building,” said Ozpin. He shook his head. “Make sure he’s all right.”

James nodded. “Of course,” he said. There was a tightness in his chest as he looked out over the aftermath of the explosion. The ship descended and James couldn’t help but frown. Qrow wasn’t Taiyang. He couldn’t take an explosion like this and be perfectly fine.

As he stepped off the ship and headed for the roped off area, James felt his chest grow tighter and tighter. There was no sign of Qrow amongst the people that were being pulled out of the wreckage of the building. Half a dozen people so far lay on the ground, all alive and with varying amounts of injuries.

He pushed his way to the front and squinted against the sun to see the others that were being pulled out. And… _there_. Qrow, on his back, unconscious, half covered in small, broken bits of the building. Nothing too heavy to push off, but Qrow obviously wasn’t doing well. And no one had bothered to grab him.

“Excuse me,” said James, trying to push past the barrier. The police officer stopped him.

“Immediate family only,” said the man in a grumbling voice.

“What?” said James, staring at the man for a moment. His gaze went back to Qrow, on the ground, vulnerable. _Make sure he’s all right_. But what if he wasn’t? Why wasn’t anyone helping him?

“-rried,” the man was saying. “Immediate family only.”

“Yes,” said James, not really paying attention to what the man said. Brothers? Cousins? He didn’t care. He could sort it out after he’d made sure Qrow was all right. “I’m – yes. Please, let me through.”

The man stepped aside and James moved as quickly as he dared to Qrow, crouching down next to the man. He checked Qrow’s pulse, shoved the rubble off the man, and double checked for spinal and head injuries. By then, Qrow had opened his eyes.

“Jimmy?” he muttered, his voice scattered and mumbling. Qrow reached up and rubbed a hand over his face. “What happened?”

James shook his head. “I don’t know. I only saw the explosion.”

Qrow grimaced and tried to sit up. James shifted so that he could support Qrow’s head and allow the man to lean heavily on him. Together, the two stood up, with James having an arm thrown around Qrow’s waist for support. Qrow had an arm thrown around James’ shoulders for help as well.

“Are you going to be all right?” asked James, craning his neck around so he could look at Qrow as he spoke. Qrow waved him off, planting a hand on James’ face and pushing it away. He wrapped that arm around his side after, grimacing.

“I think,” said Qrow, as they limped forward together. “Fucking explosions, man. Never know what they’ll do to you.”

James nodded, unable to say much with the overwhelming concern that flooded his body. His eyes were soft, his brow furrowed, and his lips slightly pursed, he knew. The expression naked to anyone who saw him. He couldn’t bring himself to care. Qrow was one of his closest friends – despite their constant arguing – and James had to make sure the man was all right.

“We can take him from here,” said a paramedic as they crossed the rope barrier again. Qrow curled close to James, his eyes wide beneath the fringe that had fallen in his face.

“No,” said James, his gaze flicking from Qrow to the paramedic. “I can take him. He doesn’t have a head or spinal injury. He should be fine.”

The paramedic frowned. “Sir, I must insist…”

“You heard the man, piss off,” growled Qrow. The paramedic took a step forward, mouth open to retort, and James used his most calming tones to try and soothe the situation.

“Qrow, please,” said James, softly. “She’s just trying to help.”

“Don’t need her help,” grumbled Qrow.

James offered the paramedic a sympathetic smile and led Qrow toward his ship. “Sorry about him, he’s not fond of hospitals. Too many bad memories.”

The paramedic nodded, though it was a hesitant and reluctant thing. “Keep him safe,” she said.

“I will,” said James. He led Qrow up the gangplank and into the ship, wherein he helped Qrow settle into a chair before sitting across from him.

The ship rose smoothly into the air and James watched as Qrow’s eyes started to flutter shut. He snapped his fingers in front of Qrow’s face, earning him a very offended look.

“None of that,” said James. “You probably have a concussion. I need to check over you when we get back to Beacon and make sure you’re all right.”

Qrow snorted and tucked himself deeper into the chair, eyes closing. “I’ll be fine. Always am.”

“That’s not the point,” said James, his voice raising. One of his men looked back at him. Even with the helmet on, James knew he was getting a weird look. Dropping his shoulders and his voice, James said, “I need to make sure.” When Qrow didn’t respond, he added, “Please.”

There was a pause, painful in length and awkwardness. Then, slowly – painfully slowly – Qrow uncurled from his chair and sat up straight. He levelled a bloodshot gaze at James.

“Do what you need to,” he said, his voice quiet and rough all at once. James nodded and set to work.

As they flew, he checked Qrow for injury, bleeding, internal damage, concussions, and anything else he could think of. His fingers slid across Qrow’s skin and under his shirt, up over his brow and down across his throat. The only words that passed between them were those spoken for James’ tests, otherwise, both men were silent.

Before long, James had finished his tests, and, with a sigh, he allowed himself to relax a bit.

“It seems you were right,” said James. “You’re fine. Bruised, a bit battered, and exhausted, but fine. No serious injuries, no concussions, nothing.” He shook his head “You were lucky.”

Qrow grinned. “I’m always lucky.”

James smacked him upside the head.

“Ow! Hey, I’m injured,” said Qrow, grabbing at his head.

“You’re an idiot,” said James. “You could have been killed.”

Qrow batted his eyelashes at James. “Aw, Jimmy, you really _do_ care!”

“Of course I care,” said James, face wrinkled in confusion. “You’re-”

Someone had managed to get right next to them while they were talking and cleared his throat. James grimaced inwardly. He was not used to being snuck up on. His men would be talking about this for _days_.

“We’re landing, sir,” said the man. With his helmet on, James didn’t know who it was. It might have been Riley, based on the squeak in his voice. Riley was always nervous around him.

“Thank you,” said James. The man clicked his heels together, saluted, and was gone.

Qrow was shaking his head when James looked back at him. “Man, you really got them brainwashed, don’t you?”

James bristled. “They’re _disciplined_ , not brainwashed. Not that you’d know anything about discipline.”

“Depends on what type we’re talking about,” said Qrow, a leer in his expression.

James scowled and stood. The ship touched down as he did and he wobbled. Qrow smirked up at him, leaning back in his chair.

“Are you coming?” asked James.

Qrow gave his cocky, lopsided grin, and looked James up and down before he spoke. “Dunno, kind of liking the view from down here.” He folded his arms behind his head and leered again.

James pinched the bridge of his nose. “You’re impossible,” he muttered, heading for the gangplank. Honestly, thought James, Qrow’s attempts at humour were far from welcome at the moment, especially with that earlier scare. Qrow could handle Grimm, badly timed missions, dark people waiting in the corners, hell, even other _hunters_. But explosions? No. He wasn’t Taiyang. He wasn’t Ozpin. He couldn’t take them better than any other huntsman.

And for a moment, out there, looking for Qrow, James hadn’t known what he was going to find. And that had terrified him more than any of Qrow’s missions. At least Qrow could control his missions. You couldn’t control an explosion.

Sighing as he walked down the plank and toward Beacon, James vowed to find out what the hell had started it all.

“Jimmy,” called Qrow. James turned to find Qrow leaning heavily against one of the gangplank’s supports. “Little help?”

James walked back over to Qrow, offered him an arm, and helped the man to his room on the third floor. When Qrow was settled – and James had insisted on waiting until he was sure Qrow was going to take a nap instead of gallivant off to find the perpetrator – James padded up to his own room and collapsed, face first, onto the bed.

It was eight a.m. and he hadn’t slept for over a day. Once he collapsed, he slept for almost seven hours.

* * *

When James awoke, it was with stiff joints and wrinkled clothes. He grimaced and squinted at his clock. It cheerfully read three p.m. James sighed and rolled over, sitting up and rubbing at his cotton filled head.

The morning returned to him in a blur. Coffee, news, talking to Winter on his scroll. Then, the explosion, finding Qrow, and bringing the stubborn, injured man back to Beacon. He’d passed out after that, as thirty six hours without sleep was wont to do to a person.

He picked up his scroll and started. Seven-hundred and thirty-six notifications stared back at him.

“What the hell?” muttered James. Just as he went to open the first one, a call from Ozpin appeared on his screen. He picked up. “Oz? Do you know what’s going on?”

Ozpin nodded, his expression grave. “Come to my office, now.”

James nodded and hung up, already shucking his wrinkled jacket for a smooth one. That done, he pocketed his scroll and headed for Ozpin’s office.

On his walk, he wondered what could have possibly happened. Had Qrow’s little scene with the paramedics blown up? Had his men made a comment about his lack of focus on the ship? Perhaps one of his paladins had been captured again and used by the White Fang. Last time that happened, he’d been in holo conferences for almost two weeks.

As the elevator door opened, James stepped into the office, only to see that Glynda and Qrow were already there. Qrow looked somehow angry and shocked at the same time, while Glynda looked like she’d been chiding him until James had walked in.

“James, good,” said Ozpin from his seat. “Now we’re all here.”

“What’s this about?” asked James, his gaze darting between the three adults. Ozpin, cryptic as ever. Glynda, obviously tense. And Qrow, who looked like he was going to vomit. James hoped he didn’t have to clean it up. Again.

“It would appear the news has decided you two are married,” said Ozpin, gesturing between James and Qrow. “Do you have any idea how that might have happened?”

_Married?_

“This ain’t on me,” snapped Qrow, jabbing a finger at Ozpin. “I’d never tank his reputation like that.”

_Married_?

“Of course it’s on you,” said Glynda. “There’s no possible way James would ever tell someone he was married to _you_.”

_Married?_ “Wait,” said James, remembering. The man at the explosion. Immediate family only. The word ending in ‘ried’ that he’d only half heard and hadn’t thought about. He’d assumed they were talking about siblings, despite the word. He thought he’d agreed to being Qrow’s brother.

“I… think this is my fault, actually,” said James.

Qrow stared. “What?”

“In my… haste,” James grimaced, “to get to you after the explosion, I believe I misspoke to an officer when he asked about my relationship to you.” Qrow stared. James clenched his jaw. “It was immediate family only, I thought he meant brother. But, obviously…”

“Obviously not,” snapped Qrow. “And that guy talked and so did the paramedic and someone on your ship and now the whole fucking world thinks we’re married.” He threw an arm toward the window, which was slightly tinted from Ozpin’s defense system.

James shook his head. “We can fix this. It was a simple misunderstanding. I wasn’t paying attention to what was being said. I’ll hold a conference, explain the mistake, everything will be back to normal by Monday.”

Qrow snorted and folded his arms, leaned against the desk. “It better be.”

“Actually,” said Ozpin, quietly, “It may not be that simple.”

Qrow groaned. “Of course it’s not. You’re _you_.”

“What is it?” asked James.

Ozpin tapped at his computer for a moment and a dozen screens appeared in the air. The first two were lit up with videos, while the rest were news feeds and various social media sites.

_“It’s amazing,”_ said one woman on a video. _“I always wondered why General Ironwood never dated and, I guess, now we know._ ” She giggled.

_“It’s revolutionary,_ ” one man said. _“These two are high profile across the globe. People know who James Ironwood is. For him to come out – to have a_ husband _– it’s so important to young huntsmen_.”

_“I guess I was always scared. But now, with these two, what’s there to be scared of?”_ said one younger woman, probably a second year student at an academy. She smiled, wiping tears from her eyes.

_“Like, I don’t think people realize how huge this is. There are no huntsmen that look like me, and now one of the biggest badasses on the planet – Qrow Branwen – is like me_ ,” said a guy, grinning. The guy next to him kissed his cheek. _“If he can be awesome and have a husband, what’s stopping me?”_

James’ expression fell with every video and every ounce of support. He found himself blinking back tears at one – at a pair of old women who were giggling together about people finding themselves with age. Every video – old or young, huntsman or civilian – said the same thing. This marriage “outing” had changed people in less than eight hours. People were excited. They were free.

“We’re role models,” breathed James, his voice hoarse.

“No,” said Qrow, sharply. “We’re not doing this. No way. No how.” He held up his hands and walked toward the door. “I’m not doing this.”

“It would be wrong,” said James, but he felt that hope growing within him. The idea that he could be a force for good in the world without just his military. Without just his _weapons_.

“The world wants to love you for being true to yourselves. Why not let them?” said Ozpin, softly.

“It’s not true,” snapped Qrow.

“Your point being?” asked Ozpin. “Glynda and Bart have been closeted for so long that I don’t believe they’ve ever dated. You two could change that.” He looked at Glynda. “Wouldn’t you like to be yourself?”

Glynda looked away, but she nodded, her shoulders tense.

“Homophobia is virtually gone in our modern world, but the stigma within hunters remains,” said Ozpin. “Look at these news reels. In less than eight hours, you’ve changed that. Think of all the good you two could do.”

“No!” said Qrow.

James shook his head. “Ozpin’s right. Even if we shouldn’t do this,” and really, he wasn’t sure himself. This seemed like such an incredible, if outlandish, idea, “we can’t just say we lied. It would break all these people’s hearts. Destroy them.”

“Then we get a divorce,” said Qrow.

“So soon?” said Ozpin. “You’d do the same amount of damage, and you’d never be able to be seen together again.”

James looked at Ozpin, who looked back at him. He saw the familiar gleam in Ozpin’s eye, but it was tempered by a sort of sadness. A disappointment that masked most of his hope.

“We’d have to be together for at least a few months,” said James, slowly. “Just to avoid the fall out.”

“No,” said Qrow, punching the button on the elevator. “Not happening.”

“Qrow,” said James.

“I need some air,” grumbled Qrow, and then he was gone.

James sighed and leaned against the desk, one hand on his head. “He’ll never agree,” he muttered.

“You want him to?” asked Glynda, wrinkling her nose.

“Ozpin has a point,” said James. And really, the man usually did, sooner or later. “We can’t simply say we lied – look at the affect we’ve already had. This is my fault, my mess. If it’s not taken care of properly, I’ll end up hurting a lot of people. I don’t want that.” He shook his head.

“A few months, perhaps six, would be enough,” said Ozpin. “Stay in the public eye as a figurehead after that, but avoid discussion of your fallout. You have months to prepare a script.”

James nodded. “You’re right. It’s the only way to preserve my reputation.” He sighed. “Qrow’s never going to agree to it.”

“Actually,” said Ozpin, the familiar cryptic tone back in his voice. “I believe it’s already being handled.”


	2. Somebody Like Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Qrow doesn't want to be fake-gay-married. Too bad his nieces like Ironwood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figured I'd throw this up tonight and write more later. It's cute. And sad. And cute-sad. Mostly it's continuing to play this premise completely straight and I regret nothing.
> 
> Comments are welcome.

Qrow stalked the back halls of Beacon, constantly flipping his bangs out of his eyes, only for them to fall back down an instant later. His head swam, his back ached, and he knew that he’d probably bruised a few ribs. Of course, his aura would fix all that in a few days, but it didn’t help him now. Nor did it help him find whoever the hell had blown up the warehouse to begin with.

And that wasn’t even counting the bullshit going on in Ozpin’s tower right now. All in all, it was looking to be a pretty shitty day.

Leaning against a wall, Qrow’s fingers ached for his flask. He’d left it in his room, empty, when Ozpin had called him up to the office. He should have taken a minute to refill it. Should have drank at least half of it before coming up to that office. But he’d already seen whispers of the rumours on his scroll and had wanted an explanation. Then there’d been shouting, and Ironwood, and Ozpin scheming. Always scheming.

And this was all a scheme. He knew that. This was _Ozpin_ they were talking about. The man was always scheming. The problem, as always, was that Qrow didn’t know what the man’s endgame was. He knew he was being schemed, but he didn’t know why. What was the purpose?

Obviously, it’d be great for huntsmen and huntresses to feel more comfortable being open with their sexualities, but that wasn’t _his_ problem. Qrow had known he was bisexual since he was nineteen. It had never stopped him from being a huntsman, so he wasn’t sure why it stopped other people.

“Uncle Qrow!” Ruby’s voice, cheerful as ever, pulled him from his thoughts. He opened his eyes and grinned as his nieces came down the hall, Ruby jogging and Yang lagging behind, her expression unreadable.

“Hey,” said Qrow. His voice was distant, quiet. It lacked his usual spark and he knew Ruby and Yang noticed it.

“Rough day?” said Yang, but it wasn’t really a question. Qrow nodded.

Ruby looked sympathetic. “It’s gotta be hard, you know. Being outed like that.”

“Yeah, just a bit,” said Qrow, more than a touch bitter. Outed to the world now, which he didn’t mind, but like this? It was a bit ridiculous.

“I, uh,” said Yang, her voice weak and soft. Qrow looked at her, eyes narrowed. Yang _never_ sounded like this. “I think it’s really cool, you know? That you and General Ironwood have each other.”

Ruby nodded. “Ch-yeah, totally! But it sucks we had to learn from the tabloids.” Ruby punched him in the arm and Qrow nodded vaguely, but his gaze was still on Yang. Who was rubbing one hand on her other arm and staring at the floor.

“You okay?” he asked.

Yang blinked hard, lips pressed tightly together. “It’s just cool, you know? I… I didn’t know anyone else in the family was like… _me_.” And oh, that hurt. Yang’s expression, the fear and hope in her voice all at once. The fact that he’d been outed and she was _still_ scared to tell him.

And had he never really told them? He was sure he’d told them. But he hadn’t dated much, in the traditional sense of the word, since before they were born. His hook-ups and flings were just that, and all were far away from Vale.

“Oh, sweetheart,” said Qrow. He stepped past Ruby and wrapped his arms around Yang, pulled her so close her hair brushed his nose. She curled into him, her arms tight around his shoulders.

“I love you, kid,” said Qrow into her hair. “Don’t you ever think anything can change that.”

Yang sniffled. “Okay.”

“You get in here too, Ruby,” said Qrow, holding out one arm to her. Ruby hopped over and curled into the group hug, one arm around Qrow and one around Yang.

“You girls mean everything to me,” said Qrow. “Everything. Don’t you _dare_ think I’d ever keep something from you I didn’t have to.” He pulled back from the hug.

Ruby nodded. “So you had to? Because of General Ironwood?”

“He’s one of the biggest figures in the world,” said Qrow, by way of explanation. “You really think he’d want something like this public unless it was on his terms?”

“But it wasn’t his terms,” said Yang. “You guys got tacked onto the news from General Ironwood’s little mistake.”

Qrow frowned. “Yeah, he uh. He misspoke. People ran with it.”

Ruby and Yang looked at each other. Qrow wondered what he was missing.

“What?” he asked.

“It was more than him just _saying_ he was your husband, Uncle Qrow,” said Ruby.

Yang nodded. “The way he acted. He was so scared something had happened to you. Everyone’s been commenting on it.” Qrow nodded, only vaguely aware of his actions. He remembered that, despite the haze he’d been in. Jimmy, terrified and frustrated with him all at once. Remembered seeing it on the news too, but it hadn’t really set in.

“Yeah, I’m not your father. I can’t eat a bomb and survive,” said Qrow, drily.

Yang’s eyes narrowed. She looked at Ruby.

“Absolutely not,” said Ruby, sharply. “As your sister and as your team leader, I _forbid_ you from trying to eat a live bomb.”

Yang grinned. “Ah, come on, it’ll be fun!”

Ruby sighed. “Thanks, Uncle Qrow.” Then she checked her scroll. “Ah, oh no we’re going to be late! Come on, Yang.” Ruby grabbed Yang’s arm and dragged her away. “Sorry, Uncle Qrow!”

“Say hi to General Ironwood for us,” said Yang, letting Ruby drag her away.

Once they were out of sight, Qrow allowed himself to slump back against the wall. Everything that just happened washed over him. The girls hadn’t known. The girls hadn’t _known_ he was bisexual. He closed his eyes and cursed under his breath.

He swore the girls had known. But had they had a reason to? Qrow kept his flirting away from them. His only stories about conquests were joking ones made to embarrass the girls. And they were always about women.

But surely…

No. No he’d never mentioned a man to them. Hadn’t bothered going after one in years. Once he’d started going undercover, women were easier. You didn’t strike out as many times. Didn’t get as many looks. He hadn’t even _bothered_ for a couple years.

The only thing he’d done was flirt with Jimmy, and that was mostly because it pissed him off.

“Shit,” said Qrow. Even now, thinking about this, he couldn’t get Yang’s words or the hope in her eyes as she’d spoken them out of his head. It had meant the world to her that he was just like her. That he wasn’t going to judge her. Ruby had obviously known, but did Taiyang? He doubted it.

He couldn’t break that. It would kill Yang to find out Qrow was lying to her. And bisexual or not, that relationship with Jimmy was what made her look up to him for this kind of thing. What did it matter, if he was bisexual, if he’d lied about the only man she knew about? What would that do to her trust? Her confidence.

“God damn it,” hissed Qrow. He pushed off the wall and headed for Ozpin’s office. They were probably still up there. And he had something to talk to them about.

Sure enough, when the elevator opened into Ozpin’s office, Glynda, Ozpin, and James were all still there. They all looked up when Qrow walked into the room. James, who’d been leaning against the desk, straightened up upon seeing Qrow.

“Qrow, I wanted to apologize,” he started.

Qrow held up one hand. “Save it, Jimmy.”

“It’s James,” he said.

“I wanna do it,” said Qrow, addressing Ozpin. “This whole fake marriage thing.” He looked at Jimmy. “You’re right, this could do a lot of good. I don’t want to fuck that up.”

James frowned. “What changed your mind?”

“Yang,” said Qrow. He rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. “Apparently we have more in common than I thought.”

James’ eyes softened. “Oh.” But Qrow wasn’t sure James knew exactly what Qrow meant by that. Could probably just sympathize. Or something.

“Yeah,” said Qrow. “So we do this. I ain’t breaking her heart. Not now, not ever. We stay the course, see how long we need to be together, break up when we can. It can’t be that bad, I put up with you now, don’t I?”

“ _I_ put up with _you_ ,” corrected James. “Not the other way around.”

Qrow waved him off. “Details.”

“Details, indeed,” said Ozpin, standing. “You two are going to need a convincing backstory. And a reason why – and how – both your relationship and your marriage stayed private until now.”

James nodded. “That will take time. We’ll need to organize something to be coherent. Fill in details, dates, events. It’ll have to be ready. I’ll – _we’ll_ – need to make a statement.” His gaze found Qrow’s.

Qrow snorted. “Details? Please, Jimmy.”

“James.”

“Whatever,” said Qrow. “We’ve been friends for how long? We can keep it mostly the same. Let’s see…” He leaned his hip against the edge of the desk, a foot or so back from James. “I started hitting on you… three years ago? Closer to four. So we’ve been together that long. ‘Nough evidence to back it up.”

“You’ve been flirting with me?” asked James, eyebrows raising.

Qrow put his head in his hands. “And they claim he can run an army,” he muttered. “Yeah, you and Oz, to mess with ya. See who cracked first. Oz broke inside of six months, you, well, you just never noticed, apparently.”

“Lately, I have,” said James. “Though I assumed it was just another one of your games.”

Glynda finally spoke up, “Cracked? What do you mean by that?”

“And we’re changing the subject,” said Ozpin, putting his head in his hands. Qrow just grinned.

“I think he’d kill me if I told you,” said Qrow.

Glynda raised an eyebrow. “Unfortunate.”

“You two, didn’t…” James trailed off, looking both alarmed and flustered all at once.

“No!” said Qrow and Ozpin together.

“God, no,” said Qrow. “I mean, there’s old, and then there’s Ozpin.” A pause, then Qrow added, “How old are you, anyway?”

“We should work on your backstory,” said Ozpin.

Qrow snorted. Of course he avoided that question. Probably didn’t wanna bruise his ego or something with old man jokes.

“I can’t believe we’re agreeing to this,” muttered Qrow as Ozpin pulled up half a dozen files. The images spread around them – rumours, people who wanted to get them on their shows, and a lot of information on the friendship of Qrow and James over the last decade.

“Why do you track this?” asked James.

Qrow nodded. “Yeah, I’m with Jimmy.”

“James.”

“ _Jimmy_.” Qrow levelled a look at Ozpin, eyes narrowed. “Why are you tracking this shit?”

Ozpin shrugged with his hands, a light in his eyes that Qrow couldn’t place. “You never know when information will come in handy.”

Qrow stabbed a finger at him. “You’re creepy.”

“Not the worst I’ve been called,” said Ozpin, drily.

“Not by a long shot,” said Glynda. “Though I must admit, I am curious as to how you got most of this information.”

Ozpin waved her off with his hand and turned his attention back to Qrow and James. “Backstory, gentlemen?”

James sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. It was more an Oz gesture than a James one, but it suited him. “Qrow’s right, we should keep it as simple and close to the truth as possible.”

“Never thought I’d hear those words,” said Qrow, snorting. He folded his arms across his chest. “So, four years of dating? Would have started in winter of that year.”

“Sounds good,” said James. “Marriage?”

Qrow nodded. “Just before I left, I think. We didn’t think I was coming back for at least a year, didn’t want to live with the unknown. Hitched on a whim.” He looked at James. “Good?”

James blinked a few times before giving a small nod. “Surprisingly, yes.”

“Indeed,” said Ozpin. “It would explain why you two kept your marriage secret.”

James rubbed his jaw with his gloved hand. “Did we want to go public? Eventually?”

“I’d say yes,” said Qrow. “I’ve never been big on keeping secrets about that sort of thing.”

James hummed. “Fair enough. We have other details to sort, but this is a good start.” He nodded. “With my status, I would have wanted to keep my relationship out of the public eye as long as possible. If only to ensure it was serious.”

“Callin’ me a fling now?” said Qrow, a touch of amusement in his voice.

James smirked. “Not a fling. More of a…”

“Spur of the moment?” finished Qrow.

James blinked. “Yes, actually.”

Qrow chuckled. “Should’ve figured I’d be your big gay experiment.” He snorted. “And then you ended up marrying me. That’s just perfect. Love story for the ages.” Qrow really wished he had his flask. He needed something to do with his hands.

“If you don’t like it,” started James.

Qrow waved him off. “It’s fine.”

“There is one other thing,” said Ozpin. Both James and Qrow looked to Ozpin. “Your living arrangements.”

Qrow groaned. “I’m gonna have to move, aren’t I?”

“While James is in Vale, for the duration of the Festival, you two should room together,” said Ozpin. “James _does_ have the nicer room.”

“Because of his status?” asked Qrow.

“Because I don’t expect him to destroy his room in a drunken rage,” said Ozpin, drily.

Qrow placed a hand over his heart, mock hurt in his face. “Oz, I’m hurt. I’ve never…”

“Twice, actually,” said Glynda, cutting him off. She adjusted her glasses and scowled at him. “I would know, I’m the one who fixes things up _after_ you’ve wrecked them.”

“I’ll need a second bed,” said James.

“Nonsense,” said Ozpin, sitting down again. “If anyone comes into your room, your charade will be discovered. Besides, I know for a fact that bed is large enough for two.”

Qrow and James turned to Ozpin in unison and said, “How?”

Ozpin only grinned behind his hands, eyes alight.

“On second thought, I don’t want to know,” said James, grimacing. Qrow nodded, eyes wide. He didn’t need an image of naked Ozpin in his head. Naked, sex having Ozpin. Who the fuck would even sleep with him? Glynda? Ha! She was pretty damn gay, apparently. …Maybe Bart. They were a little funny around each other sometimes. But still. _Ugh._

“Fine,” said Qrow. “If we have to.” He sighed. “Don’t suppose you have a couch.”

“Not one comfortable enough for sleeping,” replied James.

Qrow sighed again. “Perfect.”

“You should probably move your things. We can continue this discussion later,” said Ozpin. “After all, you _are_ newlyweds.” There was a grin in his voice that Qrow didn’t like. “What’s the phrase? All work, no play?”

“Humour doesn’t suit you,” said Qrow, stabbing a finger at Ozpin. He headed toward the elevator. “Come on, Jimmy.”

This time, maybe because the weight of what they were doing was finally starting to settle on James’ shoulders the same way it was settling on Qrow’s, James didn’t protest the nickname.


	3. Lunch Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James has a tailor. Ozpin is a troll. Qrow just wants some lunch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love this universe. And I have so many ideas for it. Hopefully you all enjoy them.
> 
> Also, let's throw in a few more tropes. The OC mentioned in this story is from Emperor's New Clothes - he was one of the tailors. He's just some random backgrounder, don't mind him too much.

Qrow didn’t have much in the way of personal possessions. Between the sword-scythe, a duffel bag, and a couple little things Ruby and Yang had gotten for him since he’d shown up in Vale, it had only taken one quick trip to get all his things up to James’ room – James’ and his room, Qrow corrected, mentally. And damn if that wasn’t going to take some getting used to.

It was a nice room, Qrow thought as James led him in. Huge bed, lots of tools, an extra scroll on the desk, and big ass windows lining one wall. Tinted, letting the occupants know that no one could see in, only out.

“You do have a nicer room than me,” said Qrow, dropping his duffel bag by the door.

James frowned and picked it up, setting it down on the dresser. “Yes, well, you do have a habit of destroying everything you touch.”

Qrow snorted. “Right.” He couldn’t help but be a touch offended by that. He didn’t destroy _everything_ he touched. His nieces were fine. And so was his sword-scythe. …Even if he’d had to rebuild the transformation mechanism twice… this year.

James cleared his throat and gestured to the bed. “We’ll have to figure something out. Before tonight.”

Qrow, for his part, just grinned and flopped back on the bed, bouncing slightly as he settled his arms behind his head. He winked at James.

“I dunno, might be hard to get me back out of this bed,” he said.

James scowled. “Could you be serious for a moment?” he snapped.

Qrow rolled his eyes and sat up, leaning back on his hands. “I am serious,” he said. “If we’re stuck like this, we might as well make the best of it.”

James rolled his eyes. “Oh, and what would you call ‘making the best of it’?”

“How about you stop acting like this is the end of the world, for one thing?” said Qrow. He stood, folding his arms across his chest, and scowled up at James. “You agreed to this before I did.”

James didn’t seem to have a response to that. Qrow rolled his eyes and kept scowling.

“Seriously. Did you not realize what this would mean? James, married means we’re a couple. Couple means we have to do couple shit,” said Qrow. He waved one hand vaguely, not quite sure what that would entail. Because it was James. And James was… James.

“Public appearances, some sort of statement, probably an interview or two,” said James, sighing. “Shouldn’t be too difficult.”

There was a dinging on their scrolls. Ozpin appeared on them. Qrow and James exchanged a glance. Oh, this would be good.

“I have an idea,” said Ozpin.

“What is it?” asked Qrow.

Ozpin smiled brightly. “In honour of your marriage, to make up for the fact that you two never had a proper reception, _and_ to show the world of Vale just how accepting I and Beacon Academy are…” Qrow and James looked at each other. Uh oh. “I’m going to throw a ball here at Beacon in your honour!”

“You’re going to do what now?” asked Qrow.

James winced. “Don’t you think that’s a bit… over dramatic?”

“Not in the least,” said Ozpin, cheerfully. “We’ll host it this Saturday. Make sure you both have formal wear.” Then he was gone, cutting off all arguments at the source.

Qrow sighed. “What do you wanna bet he put his scroll on ‘busy’ so we can’t call back?” he asked.

James tried to call. Sure enough, the ‘do not disturb’ symbol popped up. “Why am I not surprised?” muttered James.

“So,” said Qrow. “A ball.” A pause. “What do you even wear to a ball?”

“Do you own anything besides that outfit?” asked James, raising an eyebrow.

“’Course,” said Qrow. “I own three copies of it. And sweat pants for sleepin’ in.”

James put his head in his hands. “All right. First order of business, we’re getting you some appropriate clothes. I refuse to be seen next to you at this ball without proper formal attire.” He headed for the door. “Come on, I know a tailor.”

Qrow shrugged and followed James out the door. “Can we get lunch?” he asked.

“Sure,” said James.

“…Liquid lunch?”

“No.”

Qrow sighed.

* * *

 

In his office, Ozpin signed off on his scroll and set it down, allowing the holographic projection to return. He hummed at the small screen hovering on his desk, the words “PHASE ONE” scrawled across the top.

The elevator beeped, signalling someone.

“Come in,” called Ozpin, tapping his desk so the screen vanished. Glynda came into the office a moment later, holding her own scroll.

“Why did I just receive five angry text messages from Qrow and one that said ‘free lunch, woo’?” asked Glynda, raising an eyebrow.

Ozpin smiled. “I have decided to hold a ball in honour of James and Qrow’s marriage.”

“You do realize they’re not _actually_ married, yes?” she asked.

Ozpin spread his hands. “Of course, but the opportunity presented itself and I thought it was appropriate.”

Glynda raised her other eyebrow. “Right.”

“You agree?”

“Not in the least,” said Glynda. “But I gave up arguing with you years ago.”

Ozpin chuckled. “Come now, Glynda, we have a ball to prepare.” She only sighed and followed him out of his office.

* * *

 

Vale was done up beautifully for the festival. Between the fairgrounds and the arena, the place was nigh unrecognizable at points. Of course, much of the commerce district was still the same, and that was where James took Qrow.

Down on the streets, walking to the tailor – tailor first, lunch second, James had said, and Qrow had scowled – it took Qrow all of five seconds to realize they were getting looks. He caught a handful of people staring as they walked, some whispering, some not. It made sense, when he thought about it, after all, they’d been on the news for hours.

With a quiet sigh, Qrow walked closer to James, letting James’ right arm and his left brush every other step.

James tensed slightly. Not enough to be seen from a distance. “What are you…?”

“Relax, Jimmy,” said Qrow.

“It’s James.”

“Whatever,” said Qrow. “We’re supposed to be married, yeah? Us walking close together ain’t a big deal. Makes it more… authentic, or whatever.”

James nodded. “Fair enough.” Though Qrow could tell the man was still tense. He wanted to roll his eyes, but that wouldn’t do well for what they were supposed to be.

“You know this tailor?” asked Qrow, looking to James.

James nodded. “Yes, he used to work in Atlas. He was actually a personal friend of mine for several years.”

Qrow looked up at him, folding his arms behind his head. “Your personal friend, the tailor? Damn Jimmy, you certainly like your privacy.”

“You and I both know why that is,” said James, tightly. Qrow’s lips twitched. Oh yeah, he did. Not that James being half metal had ever bothered him. In made him more interesting, to say the least, and part of Qrow had always wondered just how different his metal half felt. Was it cold? Warm? Harder than rock? He just didn’t know.

James led Qrow into the tailor, a hand on his shoulder, and Qrow wanted to roll his eyes. Shoulder was _hardly_ romantic. Small of back was better. He’d have to argue that with James at some point. Course, he only knew this because he and Summer had watched hundreds of romance movies together in the years they’d known each other.

And oh. That just brought up a lot of sad memories. Qrow shook his head, grimacing at them. Wished he had his flask to drown out the memories.

“General,” said a cheerful man in purple when they walked in to the tailor’s. The words pulled Qrow from his reminiscing, thankfully. “What can I do for – oh, is _this_ the infamous Qrow Branwen?” A sly smile spread across the man’s face.

James cleared his throat, removing his hand from Qrow’s shoulder. His neck was turning red and Qrow couldn’t help but grin. If _this_ was the reaction James was going to have, he was going to have some serious fun with the man.

“I need a suit made for Qrow,” said James. “By Saturday.”

“Saturday?” echoed the man. “What’s the occasion?”

“Oz is throwing a big bash,” said Qrow, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Head was starting to swim from the lack of alcohol. _Perfect_. “Gotta look the part, apparently.”

The man grinned. “Ah,” he said. He held out his hand to Qrow grinned. “Mallow,” he said. “Pleased to meet you.”

“You too,” said Qrow. He shook Mallow’s hand. Tried not to let his trembling fingers show. “You’re not gonna stuff me in some monkey suit, are you?”

Mallow looked offended. “Monkey suit! The nerve.” He looked to James. “I’m the one who redesigned your dress uniform. He should give me a bit more credit.”

James chuckled. It was a low, warm sound that made Qrow start. He didn’t think he’d ever heard James laugh. He stared, eyebrows raised, until James’ neck flushed again.

“He’s never seen me in dress,” said James, clearing his throat.

“A dress?” echoed Qrow. He grinned. “Now there’s an image.”

James gave him a flat look. “Dress, not _a_ dress. That’s what my dress uniform is often referred to as.”

Qrow snapped his fingers in disappointment. “Damn.”

“Get him some measurements. I was thinking charcoal for the pants and perhaps red silk as an accent?” offered James. He nudged Qrow toward the pedestal, which Qrow stepped on to at Mallow’s insistence.

“Lose the cape,” said Mallow. Qrow gave James an offended look but took off the cape anyway. Mallow hummed and circled Qrow slowly, stroking his chin. Qrow tried not to look like his head was pounding. He thought he was doing pretty well.

“He’s thin,” said Mallow, absently. Qrow scowled and folded his arms. He was bigger than _Mallow_ at least. And no one was bigger than James. Although, Oobleck was taller, at least.

“I can make it work,” said Mallow. “You’re right. Charcoal, red silk. Tie?” That last part was directed to Qrow. Qrow shook his head, wrinkling his nose. “Unfold your arms. Let me get my measuring tape.”

For the next hour, Qrow was poked, prodded, ordered around, and measured. Inseams, out seams, arms, legs, neck – a thousand different things he never realized went into clothes. They were _clothes_ for Remnant’s sake. Granted, he _did_ tend to just steal Taiyang’s instead of getting his own. That was how he’d ended up with pyjamas in the first place. So it wasn’t like he’d shopped in years.

James settled in at the edge of the room, sitting down in a chair and working through his scroll. He offered suggestions from time to time, but mostly just kept looking up, a twinkle of amusement in his eye, whenever Qrow protested or yelped at Mallow’s work.

Finally, after what felt like a lifetime of being stabbed with tiny needles, Mallow told Qrow he could get off the pedestal.

“All right,” said Mallow. “I think I’m done. Come back on Saturday to pick it up.”

“That’s it?” said Qrow, raising an eyebrow. He reattached his cape. “Don’t you need to make me try it on?”

Mallow chuckled. “Nope. That’s what makes me special.” He winked at Qrow and flashed a grin at James, who slipped arm around Qrow’s shoulders.

“Now, what about that lunch?” asked James, his voice low and near Qrow’s ear. Qrow grinned. He was _starving_. His head was spinning, and he knew his hands were getting worse. Food. And drink. Hopefully that would help.

Although, his grin was also because it seemed Jimmy was getting used to this couple thing. Maybe they actually had a chance of fooling everyone and showing Yang that she could be herself in the big, bad world.

As they walked out the door, Qrow couldn’t help but ask, “Seriously. Was the guy a huntsman before he was a tailor?” James’ quiet chuckle was the only response Qrow got.


	4. Public Statements

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: bed sharing cliches, Team FNKI, and public statements.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rearranging this chapter really did strengthen the story as a whole. Woo!
> 
> Enjoy the dorks.

James awoke to warmth. Tight, happy warmth that spread from his chest to his toes and left him more than content to sleep despite his alarm going off. Then, he felt a snuffle against his chest, and suddenly he understood why he was warm.

Curled up against his chest, legs tangled with his own, was Qrow. He had his face in James’ undershirt, one hand fisted in the material, and the other splayed on the junction between metal and flesh. James took a moment to convince himself not to jump, screaming, out of bed.

Qrow groaned. Wriggled. “Will you _please_ shut off that damn alarm?” he muttered, without moving.

“Uh,” said James, whose brain had apparently stopped working.

Qrow peeled himself off James, slipped out from under James’ warm arm – which was thrown over Qrow – and leaned over him. Snatched up the scroll and shut it off. Then dropped it back onto the end table.

That done, Qrow dropped into a sitting position on the bed and stretched. By then, James was sitting up as well, still staring wide eyed at Qrow.

“What?” asked Qrow. James kept staring, silently screaming. Qrow rolled his eyes. “Oh, the cuddling? Yeah, you didn’t strike me as the type, and yet here we are.”

James kept staring.

Qrow facepalmed. “Oh my god, Jimmy, did I break you or something?”

“It’s James,” he managed.

Qrow rolled his eyes and leaned against the headboard with a huff. “Of course you can still manage that.”

“Why aren’t you bothered by this?” asked James. He finally snapped free from his daze. Barely kept himself from running a hand over the spot where Qrow’s hand had been only a minute before.

Qrow cocked an eyebrow at him. “I spent the better part of two years splitting a bed with Tai. Compared to him, you’re nothing. Man was a living furnace and a god damn octopus.” Qrow made a face.

“You shared a bed with Taiyang?” echoed James. He saw Qrow bristle. Saw the way the man went rigid and closed off almost instantly. He wondered how many others had asked that question. If his nieces had ever been part of them.

What had gone on between them, James wondered, if anything?

“Yeah, back, way back,” said Qrow. He shrugged, stretched, climbed out of bed. Went digging for his clothes, which he’d discarded haphazardly the night before. “Not like we had anything. Just didn’t like being alone.” Ah. Fair enough. Just friends then, not that it was James’ business.

“You or him?” asked James, frowning.

Qrow didn’t answer. James wondered if he’d overstepped.

“Aren’t we supposed to give a statement today?” asked Qrow. He balled up his clothes in front of him. James nodded.

“Yes, around noon. Think you can be ready?” asked James.

Qrow gave him a mock salute and disappeared into the bathroom. A moment later, James heard the shower click on. He sighed and leaned back against the headboard, eyes closed.

His body was positively _singing_ , and not in an altogether unpleasant way. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d woken up feeling that good, and Qrow’s casual shrugging off the scenario made it all the sweeter. He wondered, in that idly hoping sort of way, if this would become a regular occurrence.

His hand traced the spot on his chest where Qrow had had his own hand. It was metal, flesh, and scar tissue And Qrow hadn’t seem bothered in the least.

It had been… _nice._

He shook off the thought abruptly. No. That wouldn’t do at all. Qrow was his friend – a good one, despite how often they bickered – and he wasn’t going to make a big deal out of something if Qrow wasn’t.

Getting up, James set to work on his routine maintenance for his metal half and then got dressed. By the time he’d finished putting everything in place, his hair included, Qrow opened the bathroom door. He was clothed, clean, and steam billowed out from behind him.

“Not into morning showers?” asked Qrow.

“I prefer nightly ones,” said James. “Shall we? I wanted to speak with Ozpin before we give our statement.”

Qrow gave him a salute and followed James out of his – their – room.

* * *

 

On their way to the absolutely ridiculous elevator to Ozpin’s equally ridiculous office – seriously, what was with that man and giant gears? – Qrow took a minute to think about the statement he and James were giving today. Something about their relationship, their love, and their wedding. It was conservative, private, and professional. Just like James. Qrow wondered if he could get away with musing James’ hair during it. Claim it was a lovesick thing.

James would probably kill him. But it’d be worth it, just to see him flustered like that on television.

Then again, Glynda would probably kill him too. And that thought was much, much less appealing.

Flipping back his bangs and nudging closer to James, Qrow grinned.

“How physical do you think people are expecting us to be at the ball?” asked Qrow.

He felt James tense beside him. Qrow rolled his eyes. James didn’t even have a good excuse this time. He was on the left side!

“I’m not sure,” said James, clearing his throat. “Perhaps Ozpin will know.”

Qrow chuckled and flashed a grin up at James. “Ozpin’ll tell us to make kissy faces for the cameras and you know it.”

James cleared his throat again. But he was saved from having to answer because a pair of _wild_ looking kids came down the hall toward them.

“General Ironwood!” called the girl. The rainbows and the rollerskates made Qrow raise his eyebrows. Her orange tail kept flicking the guy next to her, who wore sunglasses and carried a trumpet.

“Neon, Flynt,” said James, and there was a fondness in his voice that made Qrow do a double-take.

“Sir!” they said together, snapping a salute at him. Qrow cocked his head to one side. There was no way…

James chuckled lightly. Qrow stared harder, jaw dropped. Okay, he had officially passed over into opposite land. Where James was laidback and Ozpin was funny.

He wondered if Taiyang’s puns were any good in this universe, or if they still sucked.

“At ease, you two, we’re not in Atlas,” said James. “Are you two all right? Do you need anything?”

Flynt grinned. “Fine, General, we just wanted to congratulate you.”

“Ch-yeah, totally!” said Neon, bouncing despite her rollerblades. “Like, you always seemed so lonely at Atlas, and now you’ve got a super cute husband!” She grinned at Qrow. He managed a disbelieving smile back at her and a slight shake of his head.

“We think it’s great that you two are out in the world,” said Flynt.

“Even if it wasn’t on your terms,” said Neon. “Which is so, totally, lame!”

Flynt nodded. “Mm-hm. But you two are being way cool about it.” He grinned. “I dig it.”

“Yeah! And maybe this’ll change people from, ya know, assuming everyone is straight,” said Neon, perkily. She scowled for a second, an expression that was weirdly out of place on such an exuberant girl. “I am so sick of people thinking me and Flynt are dating.”

Flynt sighed. “Definitely.” He looked up at James, his sunglasses sliding low enough for him to look James in the eye. “It’s an honour to be one of your students, sir, and I really hope they’ll let me play at the ball tomorrow night.”

“Wait, you two are Atlas students?” said Qrow, finally piecing it together. The confusion in his voice made James’ shoulders shake with barely suppressed laughter. Qrow stared. “ _How?_ ”

Flynt and Neon shrugged in almost perfect synchronization.

“Just because we’re not typical, don’t mean we’re not disciplined, yo,” said Flynt.

Neon nodded. “We’re totally disciplined. We’re also just super creative.” She rolled her eyes. “Who said the two were like, mutually exclusive or whatever?”

Qrow stared.

“In order to participate in the Vytal Festival, my students go through a rigorous preliminary tournament,” said James, his words directed to Qrow. “Team FNKI defeated many upperclassmen to get here.”

Neon shrugged and fidgeted with her hands. Her tail swished and whacked Flynt in the back. “I mean, it’s not like we’re _that_ much better,” she said. “It’s just that no one knows what to make of us, so we catch them off guard.”

“And that is precisely why you four are a team,” said James. “You may be unconventional, but you are all very skilled and very talented.” He nodded to them, stepping forward to place a hand on their shoulders. “You stand up for each other, your semblances work wonderfully together, and you may be the most disciplined team I have ever seen in my days as headmaster.” He smiled, and it was a genuine thing that wrinkled the corners of his eyes. Not the painted on one he used for the cameras.

“I am honoured to have you as part of my students, and as one of my champions here in the Vytal Festival,” said James.

Flynt and Neon both beamed at his words. Qrow couldn’t help but smile as he watched the three. He’d always wondered what the Atlas kids thought of James. Now he knew.

“Our doubles match is Sunday,” said Neon. “Do you think, maybe…?” She trailed off. Looked at Flynt. He looked at her, then dropped his gaze to the floor.

“I’ll be there,” said James. “Cheering you on.” Flynt and Neon both grinned.

“We’ll make you proud, General Ironwood,” said Flynt.

James smiled. “You already have.”

Flynt and Neon snapped another salute and took off down the hall, saying something about ‘training’ and ‘never miss a beat’. Once they were gone, Qrow stepped forward until he was level with James and grinned up at him, his hands in his pockets.

“You know, Jimmy, I was wrong about you,” said Qrow.

“James,” said James. “And why do you say that?”

Qrow smirked. “Sometimes I doubted you even had a heart, but really, you’ve got the biggest one out of us, don’t you?”

James chuckled and nodded, sheepishness turning the tips of his ears red. “I like to think so,” he said, softly. “But then, many would claim you’re brainless Qrow, and you’re far from it.”

Qrow grinned and, impulsively, looped one of his arms through James’ left. James gave it a look, but didn’t separate them. Together, they headed for Ozpin’s office.

* * *

 

“You’re sure you have everything ready?” asked Ozpin. James nodded, but he saw Qrow acting a little more hesitantly. The fidget in his shoulders and the darting of his eyes gave it away. James laid a hand on Qrow’s shoulder and offered the man a warm look.

“We’ll be fine,” said James. “I have my speech prepared and any questions can be dealt with later. That’s why we’re doing this here, in the office, instead of out on a podium in front of the masses.”

Qrow scowled. “Hate this shit,” he muttered. And of course he did, thought James. Qrow was a spy, not a politician. Teacher or not – and if the rumours were to be believed, it was currently _ex_ -teacher – Qrow hated the spotlight.

“If you two are sure,” said Ozpin, his gaze on Qrow. “Then we can begin whenever you’re ready.”

James looked at Qrow, who was still fidgeting. The hand on his shoulder seemed to have calmed him, somewhat.

“I’ll take the lead, you just need to be in the frame, all right?” said James. Qrow nodded.

Ozpin stood and allowed James to take his seat at the desk. The camera on James’ scroll was already set up. Livestreaming would begin whenever he was ready. Qrow took a place next to James and, after a moment’s hesitation, sat down on the armrest, one leg dangling and the other on the floor.

James shook his head. Perhaps not the most _professional_ stance, but it certainly suited Qrow.

Taking a deep breath, James tapped the desk and started the livestream.

Without four seconds, he had almost fifty thousand viewers. James tried not to let his shock show. He had years of experience. His reflection camera showed he was fine.

“Good afternoon, people of Remnant,” started James in his most professional voice. “For those of you who don’t know, my name is General James Ironwood. This,” he gestured to Qrow, perched next to him, “is my husband, Qrow Branwen.”

He caught the flash of surprise in Qrow’s eyes in the reflection screen. He hadn’t expected to be introduced like that.

“Yesterday, I was outed by a member of the Vale emergency services. From there, several others picked up the announcement and added on to it – citing moments, conversation, looks, and many other things,” said James. He folded his hands on the desk. “I am here to clear the air. All of this is true, as I just mentioned. Qrow and I are married. We have been for several months now.” He looked over at Qrow, who simply nodded.

James continued, “I originally insisted we keep our relationship secret due to my status in Atlas, but now I realize that this was not the right thing to do.” James took another deep breath. Clutched his hands tighter together to hide their shaking. Qrow laid a hand on his shoulder. “We are in a time of peace. A time when no one – no matter who they are – should have to hide _who_ they are. But that is sadly not true. Prejudice remains in the huntsmen and huntresses of the world, as well as the people of Remnant.”

James smiled, small and polite. “I do not mean any of you, specifically. Merely the generalization I have noticed in my years in the military and as a headmaster.” He readjusted his hands. “And I know, now, that many people are supportive of my relationship – for which I am very grateful.” He let some warmth touch his eyes then, giving a more intimate softness to his expression. Friendly, without going too deep.

“I don’t want to stay in the shadows, I don’t want to work in the darkness,” said James. He pulled one of his hands off the desk and used it to pull Qrow’s hand off his shoulder. Made a show of linking their fingers together. “I am who I am, and I am not ashamed of it anymore. And it is my hope that, in doing this, in being honest, that I can encourage others to be honest with themselves and with each other.” James smiled, and he saw Qrow smiling at him in the reflection screen. A warmth in Qrow’s eyes that made this whole speech seem much more genuine.

“So, thank you, all of you, who’ve shown your support already,” said James. He let his smile get a little bit bigger. “I only hope I don’t let you down.” With that, the feed was cut, leaving Ozpin, Qrow, and James alone in the room.

There was a long moment of silence, then, Qrow chuckled and pulled his hand from James.

“ _Damn_ , if you ain’t charismatic, Jimmy,” said Qrow. “Though I think the honesty line was a bit much.”

James grimaced and rubbed a hand over his mouth. “Are you sure?”

“You were lying through your teeth,” said Qrow.

James winced. “We did the right thing,” he said.

Qrow grinned and hopped off the chair. “Yeah, but you were still lying through your teeth.” He turned his attention to Ozpin. His words were light, but they made James’ stomach clench.

“So, how’d we do?” asked Qrow to Opzin.

Ozpin smiled and lit up the office in screens, showing them the reactions – mostly positive – to their announcement. By the time the feed had stopped, they’d had several million viewers. James tried not to boggle at the numbers.

There was a crack about the speech being impersonal already, but a lot of people cited their hand holding and Qrow’s warm look as proof to the contrary. It was nice, to see people defending them so easily and willingly.

Qrow started cracking jokes, but James didn’t hear them. He was mulling over Qrow’s words – about dishonesty when convincing others to be honest themselves. It struck him as wrong, but he knew it was necessary, knew it was the right thing to do.

But as he watched Qrow, as exuberant as ever, talking to Ozpin about the responses, James couldn’t help but smile. And a tiny voice inside him, so tiny that he didn’t hear it – didn’t even realize it existed – asked him just how much, and what, he was lying about.


	5. Penny, Penny, Quite Contrary

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Das gay Qrow.
> 
> And yes, the warehouse wasn't just a cliche jumping off point. It's important. Also, this is when you start to see the differences in the world, because of the lack of Cinder, Salem, and the maidens. Like Torchwick in episode one.

James woke up alone on Saturday morning. It was early, maybe a little after seven, but Qrow was nowhere to be found. His half of the bed was cool to the touch, and James couldn’t help but frown.

How’d Qrow gotten out of bed – and the room – without James noticing? It didn’t seem possible. Especially since the man, as far as he knew, absolutely hated mornings. He wondered if it was because of him, but the thought seemed absurd. Qrow had slept alongside him the last few nights without complaint.

_Although_ … James glanced down at his torso, where his undershirt didn’t hide all the metal and scarring of his chest, nor did it hide his arm. Maybe it wasn’t James, but something _about_ him.

James shook off the thought before it could take hold. Told himself he was being ridiculous. It didn’t work.

Rubbing his eyes, James sat up, trying to shake the thought again. He was a bit more successive this time around.

A quick glance around the room confirmed what he already knew. The scythe was gone and so was Qrow’s flask. James sighed. Seven in the morning and Qrow was probably already drinking. Well, at least he’d been sober for a little while.

As James went about his morning routine, he checked his scroll absently. Hundreds of notifications stared back at him, but they were all marked as “unimportant”. He’d taken the time, back at Mallow’s, to sort out his mailing lists and incoming messages. Now only a handful of people registered as standard notifications.

Including Penny, who called him as he was studying his large list of unimportant notifications.

“Hello, Penny,” said James, a small smile spreading on his face.

“Hello, General Ironwood,” said Penny, cheerfully.

“What can I do for you?” he asked.

“I have a wedding present for you,” said Penny. She paused and tipped her head to one side. “Well, it’s more of a marriage present, because the wedding already happened.” She beamed at him. “Would you like to talk a walk so I may give you your present?”

James’ felt his smile broaden. “Sounds fantastic.”

“Excellent!” said Penny. “I shall meet you at the fairgrounds in one hour, is that okay?”

James nodded. “See you then, Penny.” She gave him a little salute before her picture disappeared and the call ended.

James saw Qrow’s icon light up on his scroll, indicating a new message. He tapped it. A six second clip of a crow dancing and puffing up its feathers appeared on his screen. James let it play through once before closing it, one eyebrow raised. What an odd thing to send. He didn’t know why Qrow had done it. Probably just another joke.

Shrugging it off, James got to his feet and set about getting dressed. From time to time, his mind drifted back to his scroll. Both to the video that Qrow had sent him and to the notifications that kept coming in.

They weren’t true notifications – no one could message him without his say so – but they were alerts that his name had been specifically tagged on social media. Many were using it as a way to congratulate him, or else ask him questions. He’d debated, for the last few days, if he should answer any of those questions. Ultimately he’d decided against it. It would only encourage more personal questions.

James glanced at the clock as he finished dressing. He still had time to kill, so he thought he’d head down to Mallow’s and pick up Qrow’s suit for tonight. He was curious to see what Mallow had come up with this time. And if he’d remembered a suitable cape replacement – Qrow never went anywhere without that cape, tattered and ratty as it was. If Penny’s words were anything to go by, Ruby Rose had picked that up from both Qrow and her late mother.

* * *

 

Qrow touched down behind one of the abandoned warehouses and transformed once he was sure he was alone. He shook his head slowly, readjusting to seeing the world from a human’s perspective, before heading toward the wreckage of the explosion.

The area was still under quarantine, effectively, but Qrow had rarely listened to those things. Even before he had a personal stake in the matter.

He scoped out the fallen warehouse, careful to skirt the edges in case there was another bomb. When he was sure it was safe, he started picking his way through the wreckage. Digging through debris and looking for something – anything – that could point him toward who the hell had done this.

It was long work. Long, cold work, and the sweat on the back of his neck was just chilling him further. It was early and it was autumn, never a good mix. He wished he was back in bed, but that brought up images of James in bed.

James, who had worn an undershirt to bed their first night in this charade. James, who hadn’t thought twice about letting Qrow see him – scarred and metal as he was. James, who was a damn octopus in his sleep. Had woken up Qrow when he’d rolled over that first night to throw an arm around him. And Qrow, who should have pulled away, should have curled up on his own side, had instead rolled right into James and fallen back asleep pressed against him.

He’d known it’d be awkward the next morning – he’d tried to play it off, but he’d worried about James’ reaction. Worried the guy would close up to him again. But apart from seemingly breaking his brain for a few minutes, he’d seemed fine.

And Qrow? Qrow had liked it. He’d liked having someone to share a bed with. Liked the warmth – the comfort – that came from being curled up against someone. He hadn’t had it since, well, since he and Tai had bunked together, not long after Summer had died.

He’d missed it. And he knew he was pushing his luck trying to get it in this damn fake marriage.

Qrow tripped and swore, distracted by his own thoughts. He caught himself on a chunk of concrete and spotted a familiar streak of red. Not blood, but paint. The White Fang symbol, or at least a part of it.

Qrow narrowed his eyes and pulled out his scroll, calling Ozpin.

“Qrow!” said Ozpin cheerfully when he picked up. “How are you? Are you excited for the ball tonight?”

_No_. “Sure,” said Qrow, waving Ozpin’s questions off. “Listen, I got a question for you. You know all about Vale and its shit, right?”

“I pride myself on it,” said Ozpin.

Qrow nodded. “The warehouse that blew up on the south side. Was there any White Fang activity around it?”

Ozpin hummed, stroking his chin. “Not to my knowledge. White Fang activity was closer to the docks. The south side was largely for squatters and…” He trailed off, frowning.

“And?” prompted Qrow.

Ozpin sighed. “We believed it to be where Roman Torchwick was hiding his stolen goods, but we couldn’t prove anything.”

Qrow raised an eyebrow. “Torchwick? Didn’t realize he was a threat. I mean, if my kid can take him down…”

“She did well, but he escaped,” said Ozpin. “He had help.”

“From who?” asked Qrow. He studied the symbol more closely.

“That’s the problem, we don’t know. There was a rocket launcher, of some sort, on the plane,” said Ozpin.

Qrow nodded. “Damn. Well, I’ll keep looking then.”

“Qrow,” said Ozpin. The firmness in his voice drew Qrow’s attention away from the symbol momentarily. “Do be careful. You were already blown up once this week.”

Qrow grinned. “I’ll be fine, Oz. You know I’m stronger than I look.”

Ozpin sighed. “Indeed. But I don’t fancy handing a folded up cape to your husband.”

“Uh-huh, I’ll remember that,” said Qrow, rolling his eyes. He hung up before Ozpin could get any more ideas. _Husband_ , really? He was going to go there? _Honestly_ , thought Qrow, rolling his eyes, it was like Ozpin thought this whole shtick was real.

The man needed a hobby. Or a bedmate. Qrow wasn’t picky one way or the other.

He went back to studying the symbol, frowning. So this wasn’t a White Fang base, which meant the symbol was a warning. A sign that they were the ones responsible. But what did they want with Roman Torchwick? Sure, the guy was an ass. But he was more petty crime than systematic oppressor. There had to be something he was missing.

With a sigh, Qrow straightened and stretched. He was hungry, tired, cold, and out of ideas. Time to head to the Crow Bar and figure things out over a couple drinks and some nachos.

Maybe Jimmy would have some idea. He’d have to call him later.

* * *

 

James found Penny by the noodle stand that was fast becoming everyone’s favourite place to be. She was alone; Ciel was off with other Atlas students. Or else studying, James could never tell with that girl.

“General Ironwood,” said Penny, cheerfully. She held out the little box in her hands, which James took gratefully before pulling her into a loose hug.

“It’s good to see you, Penny,” said James as he pulled back. Penny beamed up at him. “I feel we haven’t had a chance to talk since the festival began.”

“I have been quite busy,” said Penny. The two walked alongside each other, through the festival grounds. “Ciel and I have been practicing for the doubles round. I have improved my times by thirty percent.”

James smiled “That’s excellent. But you are taking breaks, aren’t you? To have fun?”

Penny nodded. “Oh yes! Ruby and I have spent a day together and it was a lot of fun. I also showed Ciel what cotton candy was and how to play the ring toss.” She grinned.

“Good,” said James.

“Are you going to open your present?” asked Penny.

James took the top off the box and couldn’t hide the soft smile on his face. He pulled out a little silver crow, decorated with gears and other mechanical bits and bobs.

“Because his name is Qrow and yours is Ironwood,” explained Penny. She fidgeted.

“It’s beautiful, Penny,” he said. “I love it.” He pulled her into another quick hug before tucking the crow back into its box and pocketing it.

“Do you think Mr. Branwen will like it?” asked Penny.

James nodded. They circled the ring toss. “I do. He’s quite fond of shiny things.”

“Good!” said Penny, bouncing. “It’s nice that you and Mr. Branwen have each other. Sometimes you seem very lonely.”

James nodded, feeling his chest grow tight. The tightness wasn’t pleasant. It reminded him of his lie. He’d never lied to Penny before.

“He’s good company,” said James, and that wasn’t a lie in the least. Brash and drunk, but good company. It was an odd combination.

“General Ironwood,” said Penny, hopping up on a fountain to balance along the edge. “You’re my uncle, aren’t you?”

James blinked, holding out one arm in case Penny fell. “I suppose.” He liked that. _Uncle._ It made him smile despite his worried about lying to Penny.

“Does that make Mr. Branwen my new uncle?” asked Penny.

“If you want him to be,” said James. She hopped off the fountain. He wondered where she was going with this.

“So does that make Ruby and Yang my cousins?” she asked, eyes bright as she looked up at him. “My family?” The hope in her voice and in her eyes made James’ chest feel even tighter. He fumbled for a moment, unsure of what to say. He hated lying to her. To others, he could manage, but Penny was special. He’d always sworn to be honest with her.

But in this instant, he couldn’t be. He had to lie to preserve the charade. Penny couldn’t lie – not with a particularly noticeable tell – and he didn’t know if she would, anyway. He couldn’t ask her to, either. It wouldn’t be fair. There was no way to be honest with her about this whole charade.

And that broke his heart, just a bit.

He smiled at her, eyes soft. “I think it does,” he said. “And I think they’ll be happy to call you cousin.”

Penny cheered and jumped into the air, pulling out her scroll. She babbled on about how she was going to call Ruby and tell her about how they were family. How she and Ruby were going to have even more fun together during the tournament now.

And as she spoke, James just barely managed to keep his smile on his face. His hands, tucked into his pockets, were clenched.

Over and over, a single thought passed through his mind.

Just what had he gotten himself into?


	6. Time For a Ball!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh haha. I love this chapter. So much.

Ozpin was a cruel and terrible man. Or a troll, Qrow hadn’t decided which yet. Maybe both.

As he stood in the ballroom, a half empty flute of champagne in one hand, watching James mingle with various Atlesians across the dancefloor, Qrow was trying to figure out what exactly Ozpin’s game was. What the hell the man was playing at with all this – and he was _always_ playing at something.

“Having fun?” Speak of the devil. Qrow glanced to his right to see Ozpin standing there, done up in a fancier version of his usual outfit. Qrow snorted and downed the last of the champagne. Eyed the crowds for another waiter with more.

“Eh,” said Qrow. His gaze went back to James, who was wearing his best professional smile. Qrow scowled and snagged another flute as a waiter went by. Downed half of it in one go.

“Well, at least you look jealous rather than miserable,” said Ozpin, conversationally. Qrow gave him a flat look and Ozpin raised one hand – the other leaning heavily on his cane (definitely a troll, thought Qrow) – in surrender. “Only trying to help.”

“No, you’re really not,” said Qrow. He glanced back at James, who finally caught his gaze. Immediately, James’ smile fell to something more genuine, with a softness around his eyes that made Qrow’s breathing hitch for a split second. Qrow ducked his gaze and drank deeply from the flute. Damn ball. Damn champagne. It was giving him heartburn.

He needed more alcohol. This champagne wasn’t enough to make him feel more than slightly buzzed and very bitter. But James had stolen his flask and hidden it before they’d come down, and Qrow hadn’t had a chance to go looking for it before he’d been dragged down here.

“You know, I’ve picked up a hobby, recently,” said Ozpin. Qrow just looked at him. “Bird facts!” Oh, this would be _good._

Ozpin had a twinkle in his eye as he looked to Qrow, obviously waiting for some kind of response. Qrow finished off the flute and said nothing. Saw the miniscule slump in Ozpin’s shoulders. Most people would bite at his cryptic remarks. Qrow found that ignoring them was more effective.

“Did you know, for instance, that crows mate for life?” asked Ozpin, obviously not deterred. Qrow twitched. It was a miniscule action, but he _knew_ Ozpin had seen it. Qrow grit his teeth and looked at Ozpin, who was smiling. “Just an interesting fact.”

“What are you getting at, Oz?” asked Qrow, tightly.

Ozpin shook his head. “Nothing, nothing at all.” His gaze went back to James. “He certainly cleans up well, doesn’t he?”

Qrow’s gaze went to James as well. And damn, if Ozpin wasn’t right. The crisp white uniform was less colourful than James’ usual outfit, but it also held all his awards. Qrow couldn’t have named them if he tried. The shine off them kept drawing his gaze back to James. To the tight fit of the uniform across James’ shoulders. The way his muscles were more defined within the sleeves. The way the cut made him look even taller than he already was. He was like a god damn tree.

One Qrow had debated climbing more than once.

Qrow gripped his empty flute tighter.

It wasn’t even that he hadn’t known James was attractive. You’d have to be fucking _blind_ not to notice. But Qrow hadn’t put much stock in it until he’d had to sleep next to the guy. He’d expected full pyjamas, not the undershirt and baggy sweatpants. Hadn’t expected to see the full expanse of James’ metal skin – the guy hadn’t minded switching shirts in front of Qrow regularly.

And Qrow? Qrow was doomed. Because the metal and the scarring didn’t take away from how damn hot James was in the least. Fuck, it made him more attractive. Partially because he was _shiny_ and partially because Qrow knew a little bit about how James had lost half his body. How he’d tried so hard to protect his students – his _kids_ , Qrow knew now – from an attack, years ago, and had been torn limb from limb for his efforts.

But it was just a fake marriage. Just six months. And yeah, James was hot and nice and _brilliant_ and he loved his students and…

The flute shattered in his hands. Qrow swore and leaped back as the glass hit the ground around him. James was over in an instant, checking his hand.

“Are you all right?” asked James.

“Fine,” snapped Qrow. His hand was sticky. “Damn cheap glass.”

James gave him a curious look, but said nothing. In the meantime, Ozpin had disappeared. Qrow knew that was probably by design.

“Here,” murmured James, pulling out a handkerchief. People were staring. Qrow felt his ears grow hot. Under his own terms, he _liked_ attention. But not like this.

“I’m fine,” said Qrow again, jerking his hand back. He wiped at the stickiness with the handkerchief, trying to hide his burning cheeks. _Stupid_. How the hell had he even done that?

James took back his handkerchief. Everyone had returned to their mingling and dancing now, leaving the two men to themselves.

Qrow took a deep breath and forced himself to let go of his annoyance. Wouldn’t do well to snap again at a place like this. They were expected to be newlyweds. He could do this. Maybe. Probably.

“Thanks,” murmured Qrow. James nodded, his brow furrowed curiously.

They were saved from having to deal with the awkwardness by a sudden cut off from the band. Qrow looked up, one eyebrow raised. Weiss, the shriek-y partner of Ruby, and a couple other students were gathered up on the stage.

“Ahem, everyone? Sorry,” said Weiss. She smiled in that way only people who spent their lives in the public eye could. Qrow figured he’d have to learn it sooner or later in this charade. If he even _could._

“As a congratulations to the new couple,” said Weiss. “And as a token of good will between the four schools, we’ve all arranged to sing something for you.” Weiss gave a little giggle, perfectly rehearsed. “So, from Beacon,”

“And Atlas,” said Neon and Flynt.

“And Haven,” said a monkey faunus and a blue haired guy.

“And Shade,” said a pair of girls.

“We’d like to say, congratulations,” said Weiss. Her eyes went soft. “And thank you, for showing us – all of us – that traditionalism isn’t the only answer.”

The first strains of a slower, more ballroom version of _Shine_ , the only song of Weiss’ that Qrow knew (if only because Ruby and Yang _adored_ it) started up. The blue haired guy pulled back-up to Weiss’ main vocals.

“I think we’re supposed to dance,” said James. There was a laugh in his voice that made Qrow’s throat constrict. How had he never noticed how much this man loved his students? How’d he think, for so long, that he didn’t _care_ about them?

“I, uh,” said Qrow. He cleared his throat. “I can’t dance.”

James smiled. “Good thing I can lead then.” He held out his hand to Qrow and Qrow realized he wasn’t getting out of this. He was going to have to dance.

Taking James’ hand, Qrow let himself be pulled out onto the dance floor. Others were dancing as well, so it wasn’t terribly odd, but Qrow had never felt further out of his depth than at this moment.

“Do you know the song?” asked James. He rested one hand on Qrow’s waist and took Qrow’s hand with his other. Qrow knew this part, and he let one hand rest on James’ shoulder.

“The lyrics, not the tempo,” said Qrow. “Usually it’s a lot faster.”

James nodded. “Fair enough. Just… trust me.”

And wasn’t that the easiest thing in the world? Qrow nodded. “’Course.”

James led him around the dance floor in a slow, spiralling sort of fashion. It was easy enough to let James’ feet guide them. Qrow’s fell into place without even thinking about it. Together, the two went around the ballroom floor, eyes on each other. And Qrow knew he was staring, but he felt it was appropriate. After all, James was a _damn_ good dancer.

“You’re not bad at this,” said Qrow.

James gave a little huff. “I’ve had professional lessons. ‘Not bad’ is putting it lightly.”

“Mmm,” said Qrow. He rubbed the hand on James’s shoulder back and forth. “Maybe,” he conceded.

As the song faded, Qrow and James paused to clap alongside everyone else. Weiss curtsied and let the band return to their music. James held out his hand to Qrow again, and Qrow wound both his arms loosely around James’ neck.

“Prom style,” said James, one eyebrow raised. “All right.” He slid his arms around Qrow’s waist. The two swayed together and Qrow let his head rest on James’ shoulder, content in his role as follower in the dance. When he did, he felt James tense. Qrow wanted to roll his eyes. It was a _role_. Jimmy needed to get his act together.

But there was a tightness in his chest that Qrow was having a hard time ignoring. He shoved it back and went back to focusing on the footsteps of their dance and nothing else.

After a moment, the tension slid out of James’ body and his hands pulled Qrow a little closer. _Good_. Now he was finally getting it.

The two swayed together for a few minutes, Qrow’s eyes sliding closed because _damn_ this was relaxing. Why didn’t he learn how to dance sooner? But then, he’d probably be expected to lead in most situations.

As the song ended, Qrow pulled back to find an unfamiliar look in James’ eyes. Something muddied by confusion and curiosity all at once. Qrow stared. He could feel eyes on them. Knew what people expected. And he knew what the situation called for.

Qrow rose up on his toes and pressed a soft kiss to James’ lips. Held it only for a second, not long enough for people to notice James’ confusion. As he drew back, he saw James’s eyes flutter, that unnamed emotion battling with confusion.

“Qrow?” murmured James, and his voice was impossibly soft.

Qrow cleared his throat. Ignored the tightness in his chest, and said, “I’ll get us some drinks.”

He pulled away from James, ignoring the way James’ fingers lingered on his hips. He scooted over to the drinks’ table as fast as he could without seeming like he was in a hurry. Went to grab a pair of champagne flutes and froze, staring, at his shaking hands.

“ _Shit_ ,” breathed Qrow. Why had he done that? James was going to _kill_ him. Obviously they were expected to be affectionate, but James was the general of Atlas. He could get away with not kissing his own husband in public. Qrow had gone too far. He’d overstepped.

Fuck, he was probably going to have to find another place to sleep tonight.

A warm hand on his lower back made Qrow freeze. He drew back his hands before James, who Qrow saw out of the corner of his eye, could see their shaking.

“Quite the show,” murmured James in his ear. He reached out with his free hand and plucked up a champagne flute with impossible grace. Qrow chanced swiping one of his own, taking a drink from it.

James was warm and solid at his side, close, but only his hand on Qrow’s lower back was actually touching Qrow.

“Though, next time, warn me first,” said James.

Qrow swallowed hard. _Next time?_

“Sure,” he said.

“Shall we mingle?” asked James. He drew back and held out his elbow for Qrow to take. Qrow nodded and looped one arm through James’, the other one still holding his glass.

And if Qrow was a bit distracted and didn’t say much for the rest of the night. Well, it could easily be written off as him being a lovesick fool. And no one, not even James, thought anything of it or his distant eyes.


	7. Never Miss a Beat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyway, have some more gays. And some more Team FNKI. Who are also gays.

Qrow awoke hotter than he’d felt in weeks. It took him exactly three seconds to realize that the window was closed – _ugh, why_? And an additional four seconds to realize that he was hard enough to bend steel.

Swearing inwardly, Qrow wriggled himself out of James’ arms, thankful it was only James’ left. The right one could pin him pretty easily.

He climbed to his feet and stumbled into the bathroom, back against the door as he closed and locked it. He tried to get his breathing under control. Tried to stop the heaving in his chest that came from the flicker-flashes of a half-forgotten erotic dream and the proximity of James Ironwood in an undershirt.

Qrow made an abandoned whining noise in the back of his throat and slid to the floor, his face buried in his hands. _Shit, shit, fucking_ shit. He could handle them cuddling in their sleep. Hell, he’d enjoyed it the last week. And James had stopped freaking out over it – had even cracked a couple jokes about how they were both damn octopi in their sleep, though Qrow was more of a sloth, really.

In fact, Qrow could handle everything about their fake as hell relationship. The arms around each other. The concerned looks and warm smiles. The hands on his lower back and the sleeping in the same bed and the wearing _matching fucking wedding rings_.

But this? Waking up with a boner? Knowing, try as he might, that the dream had been about James. Seeing him all smooth faced and half-dressed. Listening to him laugh with and praise his students. God, it was _too much_.

Qrow took a few deep breaths, pressing his still covered face into his raised legs. Forced himself to calm down.

It was a week into their god damn fake marriage and he was freaking out. This was bullshit.

But then how long had he been staring too long and standing too close to James? How long had he denied something right in front of his face?

Remnant had a sick fucking sense of karma, and its name was Ozpin.

And _god damn it he was still hard_. That just wasn’t fair.

Qrow shoved himself to his feet and turned on the shower. Forced himself to think positive thoughts, the way Tai had always said helped him. So Qrow forced himself to articulate those thoughts as he undressed.

He was fine (he wasn’t fine). He could handle this (he couldn’t handle this).

And when that didn’t work, Qrow stepped under the spray of the shower, shoved closed the glass door, and dealt with his problems the old-fashioned way.

He braced one hand against the wall and tried to shove all thoughts of James out of his head. All that succeeded in doing was having Ozpin swim up instead – and there wasn’t water hot enough to make him feel clean after _that_ split second image – so instead, he embraced the images of James and let them swim across his mind. Figured they’d calm down his thoughts around him in public.

His hand slipped low across his belly. His fingers slid through the short, curly hairs that trailed downward there. He took himself in hand, cheeks flushed and breath loud even in the spray of the shower.

Sharp, harsh jerks that had Qrow biting back curses and shifting to brace his whole arm against the slippery tiles. His forehead rested against his arm. His whole body flushed. He shifted his stance and heard a shampoo bottle clatter to the floor.

It wasn’t long before he felt the upward spiral of pleasure building beneath his hand. Before he knew the end was only moments away.

He bit his lip, trying to stay silent and…

The door opened, probably with more force than was strictly necessary.

“Qrow! _Damnit_.” James’ voice, receding footsteps.

Qrow swore and released himself. Slammed his palm flat against the tiles because _fuck_ he’d been so close.

“Was that really necessary?” shouted Qrow, knowing the door was still open.

“I heard a shout and something fall,” said James. “I thought you were hurt.”

Qrow swore again and turned off the shower. Scrubbed his hands over his face. “Blue-balled, but not hurt,” muttered Qrow. He snagged a towel and wrapped it around his waist. Stepped out of the shower with his arms folded across his chest.

“You going to live?” asked Qrow, raising an eyebrow at James while he dripped water on the bathroom floor. James stood in the bedroom, still in full view of the bathroom, looking more than a little like a deer in the headlights.

“Why were you…?” James trailed off.

Qrow snorted and rolled his eyes. “Jerking off? Masturbating? Say the words, Jimmy, they won’t kill you!” Qrow threw his hands into the air. The frustration rolled off him with the steam of the bathroom. “People do that, ya know. At least, they do when they don’t have metal dicks!”

“How did you…?” started James, looking more than a little horrified.

Qrow froze. “Oh my god you actually have a metal dick,” he said, voice barely above a whisper. “I was just _joking_.” He felt a grin tug onto his face. “Oh the jokes I could make with this.”

“Don’t you _dare_.” And the snarl in James’ voice and in his face went straight to Qrow’s dick. Which really should have said something about his self-preservation skills. But mostly it just made him even more annoyed.

“Really? Your own _husband-”_

But Qrow was cut off by James stalking into the bathroom and getting into his personal space.

“If you ever tell anyone,” James’ voice was a growl, “I don’t care about the good we can do. Everything between you and I will be _over_.”

Qrow felt something sharp stab at his chest with the way James was looking at him – one part angry and two parts terrified.

“Okay,” said Qrow. He cleared his throat. “Sorry.” He leaned against the bathroom counter and ducked his gaze.

James shuffled backward and sat down hard on the bed, half curled in on himself.

“Sorry,” said James. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

Qrow shrugged. “If it’s a big deal, it’s a big deal. I don’t see it. Doesn’t mean you don’t.”

James sighed and said, “It’s complicated.”

“I bet,” said Qrow. He pressed his lips together to try and keep the snark out of his tone. James was upset. It wasn’t fair for Qrow to keep being annoyed at him.

Although the image of a metal dick, just as shiny as the rest of him, definitely wasn’t helping his frustration.

The tension in the room was inescapable and choking. It threatened to swarm around Qrow and left him pressing further back into the bathroom sink, unable to find the words to make it go away. Usually he was good at playing to tension. But seeing James thrown off and upset, like this, accidentally. Well, Qrow wasn’t sure how to deal with that.

“Isn’t FNKI’s doubles match soon?” asked Qrow.

The subject change seemed to lighten James’ mood a fraction.

“Yes, we should probably get ready,” said James.

Qrow hesitated, unsure of how to walk past James to get his clothes.

“I’ll change in the bathroom?” offered James. Qrow nodded. They switched rooms, not looking at each other.

Qrow bit back a sigh. So much for relaxing this morning. He’d just made things worse. As usual.

* * *

 

The arena was packed to full, but James had reserved a pair of seats in the front row for himself and Qrow. He could feel his body vibrating from excitement, but he kept it tapped down. Judging by the look on Qrow’s face, he wasn’t doing a fantastic job.

James wasn’t sure why Qrow looked so amused. This match was unprecedented. Team FNKI was an experiment. An anomaly that wasn’t supposed to exist. But here they were, having not only won against other Atlas teams to get to the tournament, but having made it all the way to the doubles’ round.

“They’re facing CRDL,” said Qrow from beside him as they took their seats. “Should be an easy match.”

“For Neon and Flynt?” guessed James. He’d heard vague things about Team CRDL, mostly from Penny’s parroting of Ruby’s grumbling about them. Cardin Winchester, their leader, was the son of a man James had known in his youth. He wondered if Cardin was as much of a close-minded, self-absorbed bigot as his father.

“Hell yeah,” said Qrow. “This’ll be a fun slaughter.”

James shook his head, but his smile as fond. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. They could have been practicing.”

“Mm-hm,” said Qrow. He pulled his flask from his pocket – and James had to sigh, apparently Qrow had found it after all – and took a swing. “We’ll see.”

James shook his head and turned his attention to the crowd just as Neon and Flynt came out. They were already sliding into their battle formation – Neon with one leg back and arms raised, and Flynt with his fingers dancing across his trumpet.

Sky Lark and Russel Thrush didn’t look to be nearly as coordinated. They weren’t ready for this fight. Especially not with Atlas’ best freshman year team in over a decade.

The arena was split into four sections. A desert, urban combat, a forest, and an icy area that James recognized from Team RWBY’s first fight.

“Three, two, one, begin!” came Peter’s voice from the stands. And then the four were off. Flynt’s music immediately blasted Sky and Russel back, getting a shout from the audience. Neon skid around them, going in for an attack with her glow stick nun-chucks. When the camera zoomed in on her face, James saw her mouthing “never miss a beat” over and over again.

He nodded. Rhythm was important. That was part of what made FNKI so disciplined.

Neon was a blur on the battle field – a rainbow coloured one at that. She skid around Sky and Russel as though they were standing still. Flynt’s music backed the two boys into a corner for Neon to slam in to, and then she was gone again.

Their teamwork was flawless. With every shift of one’s stance, the other immediately picked up on it. James knew he was smiling, quite brightly, in fact. He couldn’t help it. Flynt and Neon were unbelievable out there.

“Damn, your kids are good,” said Qrow, next to him. James glanced sideways to see Qrow as glued to the match as he was.

A shout from the arena drew James’ attention again. Sky and Russel were both running low on aura. He saw Flynt and Neon nod together and knew immediately what was next. They were going to try for their combo attack for a ring-out.

Neon spun around faster and faster, until her rainbows surrounded her like a cyclone. Flynt blasted his trumpet toward her, turning the rainbows into a vortex that latched onto the sound waves from the trumpet. Neon shot through the vortex and leaped into the air. Then, she slammed into the ground, creating a rainbow shockwave about four feet off the ground. It hit Sky and Russel and sent them flying out of the arena.

The cheers in the audience grew louder, and James joined them. He pressed his fingers to his lips and let out a sharp whistle. Qrow was laughing next to him, cheering as well.

As Neon and Flynt left the arena, James caught Qrow by the shoulder and guided him toward the tunnels Team FNKI would be coming out of.

Upon getting there, the two spotted James and Qrow immediately and Neon skid up to them.

“We totally won!” said Neon, pumping a fist into the air. “Right on!”

“Yeah, those Beacon kids didn’t stand a chance,” said Flynt. He glanced at Qrow over his sunglasses. “No offense.”

Qrow snorted and shook his head, but James saw the quirk of a smile on his face.

“You two were excellent out there,” said James. “I hadn’t realized you’d perfected that final attack.”

“We hadn’t,” said Neon, giggling. “We just, like, went for it!”

James chuckled. “I think that a celebratory lunch is in order,” he said. “What do you say Qrow, shall we treat them to a meal?”

Qrow snorted again. “Long as you’re buying.”

“Of course,” said James. “How do you two feel about noodles?”

Neon and Flynt hung on either side of James as they walked, discussing the fun they’d had in the arena and the way they’d held their rhythms perfectly. Qrow watched from a step away, and there was a warmth in his eyes that made James’ chest feel tight.

But that was probably just the lack of food.

Right?


	8. First Lessons & Investigations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took a week, but I did it! There's a lot of stuff coming together now. Hope you like it.

The scroll went off, loudly and insistently, around seven that morning. Qrow whined and rolled over, burying himself in the closest warm surface to hide the noise.

It took him a second to realize that he was burying himself even deeper into _James_. And considering how awkward the previous morning had been, that was probably a bad idea. Reluctantly – for a half metal man he was really, really warm, and really, really comfy – Qrow pulled himself off James, rolled over, and grabbed his scroll. By then, James was blinking blearily at him.

“What is wrong with your ring tone?” asked James, his voice rough with sleep. Qrow stabbed the “accept call” button with more force than was strictly necessary and pretended not to hear him. Helium Glitch and her song ‘ _Down and Dirty’_ made for a great ringtone, thought Qrow. James just didn’t have any taste.

“Good morning.” The chipper voice of Ozpin came out of the scroll. Qrow fought the urge to throw the scroll across the room. He must have gone to, because James plucked it from his hands, and shifted to sit up next to Qrow.

“Ozpin?” asked James, his voice still a bit hoarse. Qrow needed to remember how he sounded like this.  It was a good sound. “Is something the matter?”

Qrow sighed and folded his arms. “You aren’t going to throw another ball are you?”

“Maybe a dinner, in a month or two,” admitted Ozpin with a twinkle in his eye. Qrow fought the urge to stick out his tongue at the man. “But that’s not why I’m calling.”

“Oh?” said James.

“I’m short a teacher,” said Ozpin. “For a nine am class, two hours long, three times a week. I was hoping to fill the block.”

James nodded. “I’d be happy to help.” Qrow glanced at James out of the corner of his eye, a little fond.

Ozpin cleared his throat over the call. There was a moment of hesitation, and then, “Actually, I was hoping to fill the block with a class taught by Qrow.”

A thick silence fell over the room for a few seconds. Qrow blinked, rapidly. He and his job at Signal weren’t really getting along lately – in that he no longer had one. Whatsoever. He wondered if Ozpin knew. The answer was a resounding ‘probably.’

And he also wondered why Ozpin wanted him to teach. He loved teaching, but after his little stunt at Signal, could he really be trusted to do it?

“Sure,” said Qrow, though he stumbled on the word. “I, uh, I can do that.”

Qrow looked sideways to see James watching him, something unreadable, if slightly confused, in his expression. Qrow felt himself still. Did James not think he could do this?

“What did you teach at Signal?” asked James.

“Weapons, mostly,” said Qrow. He winced. “Guess I can’t teach that here.”

Ozpin’s voice was warm when he said, “You are free to teach them whatever you think is relevant, Qrow. I have all the faith in the world in you.”

Qrow perked a bit. “Really?”

“Yes,” said Ozpin.

“As well he should,” said James. “From what I’ve heard, you’re an incredible teacher. And if you’re anything toward your students as you are your nieces, those kids will be in great hands.” James tilted his head to smile at Qrow, his eyes warm. “We trust you.”

Qrow nodded, a little speechless. “Right,” he said, clearing his throat. “Guess I should get ready.” He peeled himself out of bed, letting James shut off the scroll call, and disappeared into the bathroom.

 _Get a grip_. And god, that was becoming his mantra, wasn’t it?

With a sigh, Qrow stepped into the shower and tried to sort out a lesson plan.

* * *

 

The students filed into the room in clusters, sometimes teams, sometimes not. Every last one of them had a look for Qrow, who stood, leaning against the desk in the teaching area at the bottom of the stairs. Some looked bewildered, some looked worried, but Qrow’s favourite looks were from his nieces.

“Uncle Qrow’s teaching us today?” said Ruby as she walked in. She jumped into the air with a whoop. “Yes!”

Yang grinned as she dropped into the seat next to Ruby, two rows back from the front. She folded her arms behind her head and said, “This’ll be interesting.”

Qrow couldn’t help but smile. He may have not known many of the kids in Beacon, but he knew his nieces, so that’d help him get a feel for the class.

“Morning kiddies,” said Qrow. He flashed a toothy grin at the students. “I’m Professor Branwen. Looks like I’ll be filling this slot for the time being.”

Ruby snickered. “ _Professor Branwen_ ,” she whispered. Qrow gave her a flat look.

“Watch it kid, I can give you detention now,” said Qrow, stabbing a finger at her. Ruby just grinned at him and then stuck out her tongue.

“So, this class is going to be a mix of a lot of things,” said Qrow, once everyone was seated. “But mostly, it’ll be about teaching you kids the stuff that most of your other teachers forget about.”

One of the students raised their hand.

“Yes, uh…?” said Qrow.

“Nora!” said the girl, perkily. “What do our other teachers forget about?”

Qrow nodded. “All right, Nora. They forget a lot of things.” He combed his fingers through his hair, then counted off the things on his fingers. “Nightmares, first mission jitters, dealing with changing battle styles, hypersexuality…”

“Hyper-what?” The voice belonged to a blond guy sitting near Nora. “Um, Jaune,” he said, when Qrow quirked an eyebrow at him.

“All right, first lesson then,” said Qrow. “Hypersexuality. Who can define it?”

A hand went up, slowly.

“Yeah, Hero Complex?” said Qrow, addressing Pyrrha Nikos, who had been the one to raise her hand.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “It’s Pyrrha, actually, Professor.”

“Right, right,” said Qrow, waving a hand dismissively. “So, define it.”

Pyrrha nodded. “Hypersexuality is a sudden, often intense, increase in sexual arousal and is often accompanied by a similar increase in sexual activity.”

“Technically right,” said Qrow, with a nod. “But way too scientific. Someone else?” He didn’t miss the flash of confusion and annoyance that crossed Pyrrha’s face.

Nora’s hand went up. “So it’s like… when bloodlust turns to the usual kind of lust?” she guessed, head cocked to one side.

“Precisely,” said Qrow. He couldn’t help the slight twitch of his lips at Pyrrha’s annoyed mutter of ‘that’s what I said’. He folded his arms. “Look, I know it sounds like the most ridiculous thing in the world, but trust me, it ain’t. About a third of you are gonna be hit by it before you graduate. About half of _that_ is going to be stuck with it for a while.” He shrugged. “Sometimes it’s a one off thing. Sometimes it lasts for years. Either way, you aren’t a freak.”

He stepped forward and stuffed his thumbs in his pockets. “That post battle thrill, for those of you who get it, has to go somewhere. All right?”

There was no noise.

Qrow sighed. “All right?” he said again.

“Yes, Professor Branwen,” chimed the class, mostly simultaneously.

Qrow shuddered. “Don’t do that,” he said. “Just nod or something.” They did.

“All right,” said Qrow. He clapped his hands together. “Let’s see what you kids are made of. I’m usually a weapons teacher, so I wanna see some weapons. Who wants to show off first?”

Hands went up and Qrow let himself grin. This was gonna be fun.

* * *

 

James was in the middle of some paperwork when his scroll rang. He picked up the call to see Mr. Schnee on the other end.

“Mr. Schnee, sir,” he said, more than a touch of surprise in his voice. “What a surprise. To what do I owe the honour?”

Mr. Schnee eyed him carefully – the man always insisted on video calls for some reason James never understood. James knew he was dressed – though his great coat had been tossed aside, he still wore long sleeves and his glove. Nothing metal was showing. But he had a feeling that wasn’t why Mr. Schnee was staring.

“Qrow Branwen,” said Mr. Schnee, finally. “You married _Qrow Branwen_.” It wasn’t a question, and the mild disdain in his voice made James’ hackles rise. He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from making some scathing remark he’d no doubt regret later.

Mr. Schnee was one of his biggest allies in business. It wouldn’t do well to lose him. Even if the man was every bit as pompous as Winter liked to complain about. At great length.

“Yes, sir,” said James. “We’re quite happy together.”

Mr. Schnee hummed noncommittally. Even through the scroll, he seemed to look down his nose at James. Quite the feat both in person and not, considering James was the taller of the two by several inches.

“I wasn’t aware you… preferred men,” said Mr. Schnee. His words were slow, carefully chosen, but James heard the warning behind them. Schnee didn’t approve. James bristled further. He should have expected this, what with how Winter talked about the man, as well as her own misgivings about her sexuality, but he’d never put two and two together.

“Stranger things have happened,” said James, equally carefully. “Qrow is wonderful man, Mr. Schnee. I look forward to the two of you meeting.” And maybe that was a bit much, but James couldn’t resist. Maybe Qrow was a bad influence after all. Not that James minded.

“Indeed,” said Schnee, though his voice betrayed his feelings on the idea. “When do you plan on returning to Atlas?”

“When the festival is over,” said James. “I’m enjoying myself in Vale. There’s a great many things different about it from Atlas. It’s rather refreshing.”

If Schnee took that as a dig at his own ideals, which James had partially meant it as, he didn’t show it.

“Hmm,” said Schnee. “You have a meeting in two days on scroll, don’t forget,” he said. And then he hung up.

James wanted to be angry when Schnee hung up. He was obviously annoyed. Obviously didn’t approve of James’ and Qrow’s marriage. But honestly? He was mostly pleased. The man was an ass, and he couldn’t stop being James’ business partner without losing a _lot_ of business and face. Wouldn’t do well to come off as a bigot in a changing world. Especially when James was one of the most well-liked and high profile people in Atlas. Even more so since he ‘came out’ so to speak.

James grinned and leaned back in his seat. The unexpected perks of being married to Qrow Branwen, number four – sticking it to Mr. Schnee’s outdated ideals.

* * *

 

After class ended – and after half a dozen students had waited afterward to talk to Qrow and enthuse about his unorthodox teaching methods – Qrow slipped away from Beacon and headed into Vale. He’d gotten a lead on Roman Torchwick’s location and wanted to check up on it.

The club he’d tracked Torchwick to wasn’t open yet for the day, but quiet club music still sounded from inside. He rolled his eyes at the heavy bass – he was too damn old to listen to shit for hours – and headed into the club.

Inside, the music was a bit more coherent, and, as much as it pained Qrow to admit it, the female vocalist singing on top of what sounded kind of like synthesized, remixed piano music was pretty good.

He noticed that a couple of guys in matching suits were giving him weird looks. Qrow just rolled his eyes and headed for the bar.

“Hey, um, we’re closed,” said one guy. The others all stared. And Qrow didn’t need to see their eyes to know the fear that was in them. They thought he was about to attack.

Qrow grinned – all teeth. “Thanks, I noticed,” said Qrow. “I just need to talk to your boss. Won’t be a minute.” The guy nodded and they all backed off.

Qrow headed to the bar where, to his surprise, Roman Torchwick was sitting with his head in his hands. As he approached, he heard the guy talking to Junior Xiong, the owner of the club, who stood behind the bar wiping glasses.

“She’s _gone,_ Junior,” Torchwick was saying, and the crack in his voice made Qrow falter. “She’s gone and I don’t know where she _is_.”

Junior reached out and laid a hand on Torchwick’s shoulder. “We’ll find her, Roman, I promise,” he said, his voice soft. There was something in his eyes that made Qrow look away for a second. It felt too much like he was interrupting something.

Then, “What do you want?” It was Junior speaking. Qrow looked back to see Junior narrow his eyes at Qrow. “We’re closed.”

“Little birdie told me you know everything in Vale,” said Qrow, shrugging. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and dropped his shoulders. Tried to look as non-threatening as possible. His eyes flickered to Torchwick, who was glaring at him. But there was a pain in his eyes that the glare couldn’t hide.

Who was “she”?

“Blondie,” muttered Junior. “Her dad?”

Ah. So Yang _did_ know this guy. Qrow had wondered. “Uncle,” he said, smirking. “She takes after me.”

“Long as you don’t blow up my club like she did,” said Junior. “What did you want?”

Qrow nodded to Torchwick. “Him, actually.”

Junior’s eyes narrowed further. Qrow saw the protective way Junior stepped closer to Torchwick, one arm reaching across the counter to rest a hand on Torchwick’s shoulder. His gaze didn’t leave Qrow’s.

“What?” snapped Torchwick. “I’m a little pre-occupied at the moment.”

Qrow nodded. “I noticed,” he said, drily. “It got anything to do with the White Fang?”

Torchwick growled. “What the _fuck_ do you know about me and the White Fang?” he snapped. Then he shook his head. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. I’m not telling you anything. You wanna know? Go ask them.”

Qrow’s eyes narrowed. He took a step forward, squaring his shoulders.

 _“Roman,”_ said Junior. His voice both warning and pleading at the same time.

Torchwick slumped. “They won’t admit to shit,” said Torchwick, his voice softer. “But you’re probably looking for Taurus, if you’re hunting after me.” He shook his head and his next words were bitter. “You know, I believed in those assholes before Taurus took over. But he’s nothing but a creep and a maniac. One with far too much interest in teenage girls.”

 _Teenage girls._ Something about the way Torchwick said that sent a warning up Qrow’s spine, but he couldn’t place why. _‘She’s gone.’_

“That all you gonna tell me?” asked Qrow. He looked around. A lot of the guys in suits were watching him now. And as much as Junior’s attention was on Torchwick, he was ready to fight. Qrow knew he could probably take them all – but he didn’t want to. This seemed like a nice place. Plus, if Yang’s bragging was true, his family had already caused Junior plenty of strife.

It was Torchwick he’d wanted to talk to anyway. He’d gotten what he came for.

“All right then,” said Qrow. “Thanks.” He turned to leave.

“If you’re going after Taurus,” came Junior’s voice. “Watch your niece. Roman’s not lying. Taurus really does like teenage girls far too much. And he’s in the habit of collecting trophies.”

Another shiver up his spine. Qrow nodded. “Thanks,” he said. And then he left, a million thoughts swirling around in his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you curious, yes, the "I Burn" song from the Yellow Trailer was the one playing during Qrow's time at the club. As for the stuff on hypersexuality, a lot of it is based on stuff I know about soldiers in the military. Largely those who go in at eighteen.


	9. Dream a Little Dream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aka the chapter that made the IDS chat go "ANI WHY" before I even posted it.

_Fleeting touches skirted his sides. A mouth, a pair of hands, a ghost of a breath against his ear. Then a warm chuckle._

_But he couldn’t see clearly. Pale skin, dark hair, and the glint of red eyes was all he could make out. Another chuckle. A hand sliding down his front and dancing across his belt._

_“Let’s see if technology really does make everything better,” said a throaty voice. And then he couldn’t focus on anything but the hand slipping down, down into his pants._

James awoke with a gasp, every nerve in his body alight. He rubbed his face, feeling the heat that pooled there, and also the heat that pooled further down, in the base of his stomach. With a groan, he opened his eyes. The bed was empty apart from him, for which he was eternally grateful. The blanket wasn’t nearly thick enough to hide the noticeable tenting near his hips.

James sat up slowly, rubbing his face again. He picked up his scroll with one hand and checked the time. _9:05 am_. Qrow was teaching, then. He wondered why he’d slept so long. Probably just tired.

With a sigh, James got out of bed and headed for the shower. He had a presentation in Vale today for the new design for his Paladins (the old one had been too easily stolen. He still didn’t know what had happened to it beyond “it exploded in a warehouse”). But he very well couldn’t get ready with all these images swirling around his head.

Images of silver rings on hands and red eyes, and a murmur of a husky voice against his throat. And good god, when had this become a worry? When had Qrow started seeping into every aspect of his life?

But he knew the answer. Somewhere, deep down. He knew the attraction was there. But it was _just that._ A stupid attraction born of lust, proximity, and being around one of the few people who’d never minded that he was half metal.

James let out a soft, frustrated noise and climbed into the shower. He knew what came next. Knew what images would swirl up to meet him when he tried to deal with his arousal. So instead, he turned the water as cold as it went, and stood shivering under the spray until all thoughts of the dream were drowned out by the numbness that seeped across his body.

* * *

 

Qrow sat on his desk, legs crossed, as he taught class. This was the final one of the week, making it his third overall, and he’d already settled into a pretty comfortable rhythm with the students.

“All right,” said Qrow, clapping his hands together after another discussion died down. This one had been about differences between ranged and melee weapons, and the benefits and drawbacks of combining the two. Pyrrha Nikos had been surprisingly quiet during that one, for someone who had one of the most well designed multi-range weapons Qrow had ever seen.

“We have time for one more discussion today, and it’s one I’ve wanted to touch on all week,” said Qrow. “Morality in huntsmen and huntresses.”

“Hunters,” corrected a voice in the top row.

Qrow caught sight of a red head sitting with Sun Wukong, one of the more active members in the Faunus debate they’d had on Wednesday.

“Hm?” said Qrow, he cocked his head to one side.

“Hunters is more gender inclusive,” said the red head. “Especially for those of us who fall outside the binary, like myself.”

Qrow nodded, a sheepish smile on his face. “Right, sorry ‘bout that. Uh…?”

“Scarlet David,” said the red head. “And it’s ‘they’, if that was your next question.”

Qrow nodded again. “All right, thank you Scarlet. Hunters, then. Let’s talk morals. My big question for all of you – is it okay to take jobs just for the money and the fame you get alongside them? Go.”

“I’d say yes,” said Yang, kicking her feet onto the rows of bench desks. “You’re going to be saving people anyway, no matter what you do, so why not get paid for it?”

“That’s true,” said Ruby. “But what if we end up taking immoral jobs?”

Nora piped in with, “Yeah, but that’s why you draw a line, ya know?” She leaned forward in her seat and stabbed a finger toward Team RWBY, who were sitting across the stairs. “I mean, if you’re a poor person to begin with, money is going to be really tempting.”

“And what of morals?” said Pyrrha. “And doing things for the right reasons?”

“People have to eat,” said Qrow. “And not all of us have the luxury of four years of winnings in our bank accounts.”

“And not all of us having rich husbands to mooch off of either,” Pyrrha shot back, her eyes narrowed. A course of ‘oooohs’ went up in the classroom. “That’s why tournaments exist – for fame and fortune. Why should our day to day work bring us it instead?”

Qrow raised an eyebrow. “There ain’t enough tournaments for everyone to live off them,” he said. He tipped his head and let his lips twitch a bit. “You don’t like me.”

“I don’t,” agreed Pyrrha.

“You think it’s fair to hash that out in here?” he asked.

“I believe you were the one who started this argument.” A pause, then, “Professor.” It was impressive how cool she managed to make the word sound. The entire class stared at them.

Qrow shook his head. “All right, Hero Complex. I want to see you after class. We need to fix this. Today.”

“Yes, Professor Branwen,” said Pyrrha, voice still cool, but the familiar drop of her shoulders was returning.

Class passed quickly enough after that, though Qrow saw the way people kept looking at Pyrrha. When it finally ended, he double checked they knew the homework – five hundred words on an aspect of being a hunter they hadn’t considered before arriving at Beacon, due next Friday – and waited for Pyrrha to slump up to his desk, her eyes down.

Qrow leaned against his desk and let out a soft sigh.

“Nikos, there’s gotta be something we can do about this,” said Qrow. “Every class is the same thing, you snapping at me and me snapping at you. I don’t like it.”

“You _started_ it today,” said Pyrrha, something tight in her voice.

Qrow nodded. “I did. I was more trying to work in the tournaments, but I realize I went too far. I’m sorry.” He folded his arms and watched her hug herself. “But something is bugging you, and I’m in the habit of getting under people’s skin to find out what it is.”

“So I’m another project to you?” asked Pyrrha, her voice tight.

“No,” said Qrow. “More a… curiosity. I touched a nerve somewhere down the line, and now everything I say you’re taking personally.” He unfolded his arms and rested his hands on the desk. “Talk to me. Tell me what I did wrong, so we can fix this.”

Pyrrha sighed. “In your first class, you dismissed my definition.”

“It was right, but it was too complicated. No one understood it,” said Qrow. “Not used to being dismissed?”

“It’s not that,” said Pyrrha. She went silent, looking away and hugging herself tighter.

And realization dawned. “You’re hypersexual,” said Qrow. He kept anything and everything that could be taken as judgement out of his voice.

Pyrrha managed a terse nod. She wouldn’t look at him. “Nora and Yang want to know how I knew that definition. They want to know why I’m angry with you.” She unfolded her arms and yanked at her ponytail hard enough that Qrow winced in sympathy. “I’ve been… tense, lately.”

“Going through an uptick?” asked Qrow. Pyrrha shot him a surprised look. Qrow chuckled. “I wasn’t kidding when I said its common, kid. I deal with it too.”

Pyrrha sighed. “What do I do?”

“You talk to Goodwitch,” said Qrow. “Because you’re a minor, I don’t share parts with you – at least, I don’t think I do.” He raised an eyebrow and Pyrrha shook her head. “Right, I don’t. And she’s your advisor.”

“Okay,” said Pyrrha.

“But if you wanna know stuff about it, yeah, come to talk to me,” said Qrow. “And for the love of all that is good, ask out the noodle boy.”

Pyrrha went red. “ _What?_ ”

“He looks at you like you hung the stars in the night sky, kid. And not because you’re a champion. Ask him out already,” said Qrow.

Pyrrha giggled, a hand flying over her mouth to stifle it. Qrow grinned.

“Okay,” she said. “I will.”

“Good, now scoot, I got a date,” said Qrow. Pyrrha nodded and headed out of the classroom. He faintly heard Jaune greet her as she left and he couldn’t help but smile. She’d ask him out, of that he had no doubt. It’d be good to see those two stop staring at each other. From what Qrow had heard, they’d been pining for months before he’d shown up, and were even worse as of late.

With a little chuckle, Qrow headed to downtown Vale, where James was presenting his updated Paladins in less than an hour.

* * *

 

“Good afternoon, Vale,” said James, standing on the stage. Qrow watched from where he stood, leaning against the railing of a café’s outdoor seating area. He had a small smile on his face as James paced the stage and moved his hands to emphasize his points.

He described the upgrades to the Paladin – including anti-theft technology and DNA tags to keep non-registered users from even opening them – with a glint in his eye that was visible on the screens that projected him to the massive crowd that had gathered. Qrow knew he was also being broadcasted across a sizeable portion of Atlas and the rest of Vale.

“And these upgraded Paladins are also part of a core server,” said James. “While each one is controlled individually, they can also be mass shut down from the server.” He paused. “And, this core server cannot forcibly control them – only shut them down. So there’s no worry about any nasty viruses.” That got quite a few cheers and some chuckles. James smiled. It was his professional smile – the one that made his eyes warm but betrayed nothing beyond the surface.

Qrow didn’t like that smile as much as his others.

But it was still a good look on James. His enthusiasm when talking about his inventions was virtually unmatched. While he was more reserved in public, some of it slipped through. Qrow figured that was probably why most people trusted him so much. It was hard to worry about things when James had that light in his eyes.

Qrow swallowed hard, a tight feeling in his chest. He fiddled with the rings on one hand until the feeling lessened. And he watched, through his bangs, as James wrapped up his presentation. The crowd slowly dispersed afterward, and Qrow found himself wandering up to James, still watching through his bangs.

“Hey, Jimmy,” said Qrow, his voice low.

James looked up from where he was talking to a few students and smiled warmly at Qrow. Qrow swallowed hard, his chest tight all over again.

“Qrow,” said James, his voice just as warm as his smile. There was a tightness in his shoulders that made Qrow frown, however. “I didn’t know you were here.”

“Uh, yeah,” said Qrow. He cleared his throat. “You said we’d do lunch today.” Which was mostly true, James had said this week. Today was the last day of the work week. It only made sense. And it wasn’t just because he’d wanted to spend time with James.

“Right, of course,” said James. Qrow caught the split-second glimmer of confusion in his eyes. Wondered if there was something James wasn’t telling him. But then James was turning his headmaster smile on the students and saying, “Excuse me.” He gestured for Qrow to follow him.

Qrow saw the way James kept his distance from him while they walked. He frowned, brow furrowed at the carefully maintained distance, and narrowed his eyes at James.

“Everything all right, Jim?” asked Qrow, looking up at the man. James cleared his throat and didn’t look at Qrow.

“Can we do this another day? I’d be happy to buy you lunch, but I have work to do,” said James. His shoulders were tense.

“Can’t take an hour off for your husband?” asked Qrow, trying to pull some of his usual tease into his voice. He knew it partially fell flat, if only because his chest was tight. What was going on?

“Qrow,” said James, his voice sharp, annoyed. He stopped and looked at Qrow. Qrow sucked in a breath. The usual warmth in James’ eyes was gone. Replaced with an icy coldness that he reserved for reprimanding those who had wronged him. That, combined with the tightness in James’ every inch, made Qrow shrink back a small amount.

“Right,” said Qrow, is own voice tight. “Sorry, whatever.” He turned and walked away, one hand raised. “Later, James.”

Qrow ignored the tightness in his chest as he walked and kept his head down. If James wanted to be a dick, fine, he could be a dick right back.


	10. A Brief Interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter is a bit of an odd one, but I felt it fit. Time to look at things going on beyond the Ironqrow, ya know? Besides, it helps set up a lot of future stuff. Cheers!

Glynda arrived in Ozpin’s office a little after eight that morning. She was dressed immaculately, as she always was, and she found Ozpin standing behind his desk, hands clasped behind him, looking out over the school. He turned when she came in, his head tilted slightly in that way that made Glynda nervous, despite working with him for almost a decade.

“Professor Ozpin,” she said, voice clipped. “Did you need me for something?” She had classes to plan and tournament matches she’d promised to watch – it was JNPR’s doubles match today, after all, and Nora had been insistent that Glynda was there to cheer them on. She’d been more than happy to oblige, though she’d put up the customary long suffering sigh and protests. It was only proper.

“Yes, actually,” said Ozpin. He turned around fully and leaned over his desk, tapping on his scroll. A screen appeared in the centre of the room and Glynda stepped around it for a better view. Several more screens appeared. Some had muted videos playing on them with subtitles filling in the missing audio. Some were scrolling walls on social media – like Chirper, MyBeacon, and Huntbook. And some were video files and pictures that Ozpin had no business having. Images of James and Qrow, heads bent close together and laughing. Or of them sharing a meal. Or of Qrow with a hand on James’ arm, looking up at him with all the concern in the world.

“I wanted to ask you a few questions,” said Ozpin slowly.

“May I start?” she asked, eyebrows raised. He nodded. “How in Remnant’s name did you get all this?”

Ozpin waved off the question. “There are many more important questions at hand.”

“You’re not going to tell me,” supplied Glynda, eyes narrowed.

“Now, Glynda, I tell you almost everything,” started Ozpin.

Glynda scoffed. “Bull _shit_ ,” she said, folding her arms over her chest. “You’re so full of secrets they’re coming out of your ears.”

Ozpin winced, head tilting away from Glynda for a moment. “That’s… a fair assessment.”

Glynda folded her arms over her chest and scowled. “I don’t ask you to tell me everything, but I do ask that you don’t lie so obviously to my face.” She sighed. “Just… tell me what you want. I have a match to watch.”

“Ah, yes. JNPR’s match is today,” said Ozpin. There was something in his tone that made Glynda bristle. “I suspect they’ve asked you to cheer them on?”

“Yes,” said Glynda. “Is that a problem?”

“Not at all,” said Ozpin. “Though I remember you telling me, many times in fact, that our students are just that.” He looked at Glynda over his glasses. “And not our children.”

Glynda narrowed her eyes. “Two of them are orphans, one has parents who keep telling him he should come home and not waste his time at Beacon, not to _mention_ insisting upon calling him the wrong name, and the fourth is thousands of miles away from any semblance of home.” She gripped her biceps with clenched fingers. “I think I’m entitled to a little mothering.”

“Of course,” said Ozpin in his usual cryptic tones. “Now, about why I brought you up here.” He gestured to the screens again, and Glynda was glad for the subject change. She didn’t like the way he looked at her when she talked about Team JNPR.

“What am I looking at?” asked Glynda, scanning the images and video clips.

“The progression of James’ and Qrow’s relationship over the past… six years, I believe, plus a few odds and ends,” said Ozpin.

Glynda’s eyes widened. “I’m disturbed at how comprehensive this is.” She let her gaze slide across the images. There were some from before six years ago – which was about when Ozpin had pulled James into his inner circle. Images from the Vytal Festival that both James and Qrow had been in. Images of funerals and small children. A clip of Qrow singing in some pub in Atlas – and she needed to get a hold of that one, if only because she had wondered where Ms. Xiao Long’s singing ability had come from.

And then, it struck Glynda why Ozpin would have such a thing. “Wait,” she said. “Relationship progress.” Her gaze went back to Ozpin, eyes narrowed. “What are you planning?”

“Nothing terrible, I assure you,” said Ozpin, folding his hands together on his desk. “Now, I’ve been meaning to put the next part of my plan into action, but in order to-”

“Hold it,” said Glynda, voice sharp. “Progress? Plan? …Did you _plan_ all of this? This marriage? This scheme?” She waved one of her hands vaguely at the last word. She scowled.

Ozpin tilted his head. “The marriage? Not at all. That was a happy coincidence. The rest…” He trailed off, mimicking Glynda’s vague hand gesture.

“Do you really not have anything better to do than play matchmaker with your _friends_?” asked Glynda. She couldn’t quite pull the tight frustration out of her voice.

“When you’re as old as I am, Glynda, you run out of hobbies,” said Ozpin. He leaned back in his chair. “I don’t understand why this is upsetting you, James and Qrow would be lovely together – and they obviously care for each other.”

Glynda guffawed. “You don’t…” She took a deep breath and pinched her brow. “You don’t play with people’s _emotions_ , Oz, that’s _wrong_.”

“They’ll never get together without interference,” argued Ozpin, his voice its same, smooth tone as always.

Glynda grit her teeth. “You know what? I’m not even going to argue.” She put her hands in the air and walked back toward the elevator. “Do whatever you want Ozpin, but I won’t get involved.”

“You’re not going to tell them, are you?” asked Ozpin.

Glynda snorted, a gesture so unlike herself that it caught her by surprise. “They wouldn’t believe me if I did,” she said, and she stepped back into the elevator and headed to the doubles match.

* * *

 

The match was brilliant. A Mistrali team ended up against Team JNPR and Ruby and Yang stood in the stands, screaming their support for Pyrrha and Nora.

The two redheads worked in perfect harmony down in the battlefield. They cornered their opponents, cut through the environment, and had both of the Mistrali students ringed-out in less than five minutes.

Ruby whooped and cheered along with everyone else before following Yang down to the fairgrounds. There was a little less than an hour before Yang and Weiss’ own doubles match, and Ruby was looking forward to cheering them on as well.

As she and Yang walked through the fairgrounds, Ruby bounced along, humming to herself. She caught sight of Uncle Qrow and General Ironwood behind one of the booths, talking together. Uncle Qrow had his arms folded tightly across his chest and General Ironwood kept touching his arm, his shoulder, his face, to get Uncle Qrow to look at him.

“Yang?” asked Ruby, over her shoulder. Yang jogged up beside her. “Are they fighting?” She couldn’t keep the worry out of her voice.

Yang hummed. In their forgotten corner, General Ironwood placed a hand on Uncle Qrow’s cheek and turned his face toward General Ironwood’s. They rested their foreheads together. Uncle Qrow unfolded his arms.

“No, I think they’re making up,” said Yang. She threw an arm around Ruby’s shoulders and led her away. “Come on, let’s get something to eat.”

Ruby frowned as Yang led her to the noodle stand. “Why would they be fighting?” she asked.

Yang shrugged. “People fight, Ruby. It’s not a big deal. The point is that they’re making up, ya know?” said Yang. She sat down at the noodle stand. Ruby followed suit. Two noodle bowls were shoved in front of them.

“I guess,” said Ruby. She sighed. “I just want Uncle Qrow to be happy.”

“Yeah, I get that,” said Yang.

Ruby pressed her lips together and sighed again. “And, it’s just… it’s great to see him so willing to be himself. And to be open and happy. He’s always acted like he was alone, even with Dad and you and me, and now he has General Ironwood…” She was babbling. She knew she was.

“Are you okay?” asked Yang, touching her shoulder. “You know you can talk to me about _anything_ , right?”

It took Ruby a second to realize what Yang meant. “What?” She made a face. “No. Ew. I don’t like anyone like that, Yang. I don’t think I can.” She shrugged. “And I’m totally okay with that, really.” She cast a glance over her shoulder toward where Uncle Qrow and General Ironwood had been only moments before. “I just know that Uncle Qrow hates being alone and General Ironwood makes him happy.”

“So you worry,” finished Yang.

Ruby nodded. “Exactly.” Then, she saw two people approaching the noodle stand behind Yang and all her sadness slipped away. “Emerald! Mercury!”

The two looked over at Ruby. Emerald sighed, shoulders drooping a bit, and Mercury laughed, throwing an arm around her shoulders and guiding them over.

“Hey, you two,” said Yang. “You ready for our match?” She punched one fist into her palm.

“Hell yeah,” said Mercury.

“Mercury,” said Emerald. He raised an eyebrow. “Language.” Emerald nodded to Ruby.

Ruby rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry, Uncle Qrow says _way_ worse around me.” She bounced to her feet. “Say, where are your teammates? I feel like we’ve never met them.”

“The twins?” said Merc. “Their dad lives in Vale, so they just hang out with him all the time.”

“Twins? Vale?” echoed Yang. She frowned. Looked a bit thoughtful. “Who…”

“This is gonna be a great match,” said Ruby. “Obviously I want my team to win, but I can’t wait to see how you two fight together.” She pouted. “I missed your team match.”

Emerald waved her off. “It’s cool. Wasn’t that interesting. We dominated.”

“Ooooh,” said Ruby. “I’m so excited.” Then, “Hey, have lunch with us. My treat.”

“Yeah,” said Yang. “A gesture of good will.”

Emerald and Mercury looked at each other and shrugged.

“Sure,” said Emerald. “Why not?”

* * *

 

Ruby whooped from her spot in the stands as Yang, Weiss, Emerald, and Mercury all walked out onto the battlefield. Uncle Qrow and General Ironwood were sitting next to her – she’d hunted them down for the match – and Blake was a couple seats down, sitting with Team SSSN.

“So, you think Yang and the ice princess will win?” asked Uncle Qrow.

Ruby scoffed. “Ch-yeah!” She grinned. “Yang and Weiss have fantastic team work, plus the whole reason they’re going on is because of how their fighting styles work together.” She counted it off on her fingers. “Weiss’ ranged attacks with dust, plus her semblance, allow her to cover most of what Blake and I can do on a smaller scale. It’s not the same, by a long shot, but it’s similar enough that Yang’s used to working with whatever Weiss can throw at her.”

“Yeah?” said Uncle Qrow.

“Yeah,” said Ruby, nodding. “And Yang’s semblance let’s her take all the melee attacks, so that no one can get too close to Weiss. Plus, once Yang gets charged up… well.” She grinned. “They have a plan.”

“You are quite the tactician, Ruby Rose,” said General Ironwood. He was smiling. “Nicely done.”

“Thank you,” said Ruby brightly. “Now shhh. Match time!”

Sure enough, the match began just as Ruby turned to watch.

It was an incredible match. Emerald and Mercury were some of the best fighters Ruby had seen outside of fully trained hunters, and Yang took more of a beating from them than Ruby had ever seen before. Weiss kept her glyphs going as fast as she could, blocking attacks, throwing attacks, and ultimately just trying to keep up with Emerald. And even that wasn’t quite enough to avoid everything.

Then Yang stumbled, swinging for something that wasn’t there, deep within the forest, and Ruby saw Emerald’s head tilt. And she suddenly realized what Emerald’s mysterious semblance as.

“Oh my god,” breathed Ruby, eyes growing wide. “Illusionist.” She couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face. Yang kept going for opponents that weren’t there, hidden in the forest, and Emerald kept dancing away, head tilting back and forth. It was subtle. Not quite there. From a distance, it looked like Yang was just pulling up short on Emerald, but Ruby saw it much more closely than that.

It was kind of like how Pyrrha used her semblance – there, but not enough to notice.

Then, one of Weiss’ ice attacks shot through the forest, knocking Emerald into a tree, and Yang was free. She blinked a few times, looking around.

“Illusionist?” echoed Uncle Qrow. “What did you see?”

“Yang and how she was fighting,” said Ruby, eyes still glued to the match.

“How can you tell?” asked General Ironwood. “The cameras in the forest weren’t picking anything up.”

Ruby blinked. Right. Sniper eyes. “Never mind,” she said. She’d ask Emerald later, just to make sure Emerald didn’t mind people knowing. Some semblances were special and secret – like Pyrrha’s.

The battle raged on, faster and harder, until, finally, Yang’s aura hit thirty percent.

“Weiss, now!” shouted Yang. Weiss threw out as many speed semblances as she could manage before Emerald got a good hit on her and she went flying.

But that hit was too little, too late. Yang was supercharged and superfast. She came at Emerald and Mercury like there was no tomorrow, beating on them until both were stumbling and struggling to even go on the defensive. And then she booted one, and then the other, clean out of the ring. It was a double knock out by ring out.

“Woohoo!” screamed Ruby, throwing her hands into the air. Team RWBY was headed for the finals!

Yang and Weiss did a double high five above their heads down in the arena, then Yang turned and winked at someone up in the audience. A few seats down, Blake blushed and ducked her head, but Ruby saw she was smiling.

“That’s new,” said Uncle Qrow, one of his eyebrows raised.

“When Yang said she wasn’t going to hide anymore, she meant it,” said Ruby. “She’s being herself and going after the one she wants. And Team RWBY is behind her one hundred percent.” She smiled at her uncle. “And that’s all because of you Uncle Qrow. I’m… really proud of her.”

“And so am I,” said Uncle Qrow. He clapped a hand on her shoulder. “Now come on, let’s go congratulate those two properly.” He, Blake, General Ironwood, and Ruby all headed down to the entrance to the arena, with Ruby chattering excitedly along the way.

It was a perfect match for a perfect day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on [Tumblr](anipendragon.tumblr.com) for supplementary information, fic prompts, and other oddities.


	11. One on One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _You two are idiots._  
>  Closing in on the end of act one, folks! Have some feelings. Lots of feelings.
> 
> Two chapters left in act one, I think!
> 
> Also in this chapter: a cameo by the leader of Team DMND, my OC team.

The morning of Yang’s doubles match, Qrow slipped out of bed at dawn and disappeared before James could stir. He’d come in late, in crow form, after James had gone to bed, and curled himself on the edge of the bed. It was too uncomfortable to sleep in bird form, and besides, even if he and James were awkward, he didn’t want to find somewhere else to sleep. He’d come to like it, sleeping next to James. Waking up in his arms, surrounded half by cold and half by warmth.

It was a constant, a nice one. And damn if Qrow didn’t want to give it up.

So he snuck in and snuck out, feeling more than a little like he was doing the walk of shame that morning when he woke up with James pressed against his back. Even when James was mad at him, he was still an octopus in his sleep. Qrow felt more than a little guilty.

He found himself perched outside of Ozpin’s office while he waited for the matches to start, balanced on the window sill so high up that most people couldn’t see him. His own eyes kept the people below in focus easily enough. He wondered if Oz was awake yet. He wondered if Ozpin ever slept.

The window behind him opened, as if to answer his question. Ozpin raised an eyebrow and offered Qrow a coffee mug. Qrow took it and sipped the warm liquid gratefully. It was autumn, after all, and the cool breeze on the ground was a little brutal this high up. Until it snowed, Qrow probably wouldn’t change out of this shirt. He liked it too much.

Ozpin leaned against the open window and looked at Qrow over his glasses. “Trouble in paradise?” he asked.

“Fuck off,” snapped Qrow. Ozpin sipped his coffee, silent. The wind blew again and Qrow shivered. He wondered what would happen to the coffee mug if he transformed and took off. It’d probably fall and hit some poor kid in the head.

Probably Jaune, if the kid’s luck was anything to go by.

“I thought you two would at least make it a month before you started fighting,” commented Ozpin. He was staring at the arena in that absent way that only Ozpin could ever pull off. “It’s been what, two, three weeks?”

Qrow grit his teeth and said nothing.

“Have you tried talking to him?” asked Ozpin. “I know it’s a novel concept.”

“Ozpin?” said Qrow. “I mean it, fuck off. This ain’t got anything to do with you.”

Ozpin sighed. “Communication is the cornerstone of any relationship, Qrow, romantic or not. You’d do well to remember that.” With that, he stepped away from the window and closed it. And Qrow was alone again.

“Damnit, Ozpin,” muttered Qrow, because _of course_ Ozpin was right. He needed to talk to James, before this started to affect the rest of his life. Before it ruined everything he had with James. But damn if he wasn’t going to put it off as long as possible.

 _After the match,_ he told himself.

He set down the coffee mug and leaned back, letting himself drop off the window sill. There was a second where he let the wind and momentum take him. Let the whole world swirl around him. Then he transformed, turned over, and spread his wings. He headed for the fairgrounds, wondering how long it was until Yang’s match.

He touched down behind a booth in the fairgrounds, shifting back to his human form. Shook off the vertigo the shift always left him with and stretched. With a soft sigh, Qrow turned and slipped into the crowds. He wondered where the girls were. Maybe they could help him pass the time until the match.

Qrow’s plan quickly went to hell when he spotted James in the crowd. And when he realized James had spotted him as well. Qrow grimaced and darted out of the crowd, hoping he was the faster of the two.

Unfortunately, James’ size meant most people parted for him in a crowd, and he cornered Qrow behind a nearby booth.

“Qrow,” said James. He grabbed Qrow’s arm and Qrow jerked around to face James. He crossed his arms tightly across his chest. “Qrow will you please talk to me? You didn’t come back last night. Where were you?” The worry in his voice and in the pinch of his brow made Qrow’s heart pang.

_Bad thoughts. Don’t go there._

“I did come back,” mumbled Qrow toward the ground. “Just took off before you woke up.”

James was silent long enough that Qrow looked up. He regretted it instantly when he saw the hurt in James’ eyes.

“Why?” asked James.

“I figured you didn’t want to see me.” Qrow looked away again. James touched his arm and Qrow twitched back from it. “You haven’t exactly wanted to talk yesterday. Figured you were busy or something.”

This time the hand rested on his shoulder. Qrow didn’t flinch.

“I was… dealing with a few things on my mind,” said James. “I didn’t mean to take it out on you.”

Qrow looked up, brow furrowed. “Are you all right?” he asked.

James nodded, a small smile on his face. “Yes, I’m fine now. Are you?” Qrow looked away again. This time, James’ hand found his cheek and Qrow gave in to the urge to lean into it. It’d be a day, maybe a day and a half, and he’d missed James.

More than that though, he missed their _friendship_. The deeper they got into this fake marriage, the further they slid away from the comfortable friendship they’d had for years. Wasn’t the whole point of this sham to make the world a better place? What was the point if it was going to tear them apart at the end? What would that prove, that their marriage only worked because it had to?

They’d do more harm than good, at this rate.

“I’ll be okay,” said Qrow, quietly. “Just worried about this whole thing.”

“Me too,” said James. He sighed and hung his head a bit. Qrow stepped forward, letting his hand rest on the hand on his cheek. “But we’re friends, Qrow. We’ve been through worse.”

Qrow cocked an eyebrow. “Worse than a fake marriage?” he asked. He bumped his forehead against James’ to get the other man to raise his head. They stayed like that for a minute.

“Much worse,” said James, drily. “What about the time with the griffon Grimm?”

Qrow groaned and leaned more firmly into James. “Or the time with the giant slugs.”

“Or that science experiment of yours and Tai’s that took out half a dozen dorms when you visited Atlas a few years ago,” added James. The two laughed softly, the easiness of their relationship returning slowly, although Qrow felt the awkwardness lingering below.

“Friends?” asked James, his eyes hopeful.

Qrow swallowed hard. “Friends,” he said. And he pretended not to feel a pang in his gut as he said it.

* * *

 

So they weren’t quite back to normal, Qrow quickly discovered. There was still an air of awkwardness between them that they couldn’t quite shake. Qrow spent a lot of time around Ruby and Yang those next few days. The final rounds of the tournament were starting and Yang was headed for her match. The top four from the finals would go on to an all-out eight environment free for all – last person standing wins.

Qrow had spent the day walking Yang through all the opponents she might have to face. Now, he was headed back to his room. His footsteps were heavy with dread as he thought about the awkwardness between himself and James. He made himself think about his conversation with Yang down in the training room instead.

_“What about Pyrrha?” Yang had asked when they’d gone over everyone else. “How do I beat her?”_

_“Take away her weapons and go for the throat,” Qrow had said._

_“That’s dirty!” Ruby had said, gasping._

_Qrow had given them both a flat look. “She’s a four time champion and a stamina fighter. You wanna beat her? Fight dirty.”_

_“Roger that,” Yang had said, giving him a salute and a half-cocked grin that reminded Qrow way too much of her father._

Qrow chuckled softly as he opened the door into his and James’ living quarters. James was sitting at his desk in the living space, head in his hands and scroll pressed to his ear.

“Yes, Mr. Schnee,” said James. The exasperation was clear in his voice. His head came up as the door closed and Qrow cocked an eyebrow. James offered him a weak, pained smile. “I understand.”

Qrow crossed the room, brow furrowed, and stood behind James. He let his hands slide up James’ shoulders, massaging them lightly. It wasn’t the first time he’d given James a massage, but definitely the first since all this started.

James straightened in the chair, leaning back into Qrow’s touch. His eyes fluttered.

“I understand,” said James. He tilted his neck a bit and Qrow worked on the kinks around his metal shoulder, focusing on the area where flesh met steel. “Of course, the schematics will be ready for you by the end of the week.” James’ voice was lighter now, less strained with frustration.

“Good night,” said James. He hung up his scroll and set it down, then leaned further back into Qrow’s hands. A soft hum slipped from his lips and he tilted back his head, eyes closed.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” asked James, his voice smooth and low.

Qrow kept working, his eyes flicking to the look of bliss on James’ face. “You seemed tense. And Schnee’s an ass, so.” He shrugged. James opened his eyes and Qrow felt his breath catch. Those blue eyes stared up at him with all the affection in the world.

“Thank you,” said James. “I needed that.”

For a while, they were silent as Qrow worked the kinks from James’ neck and shoulders. James slowly turned to goo under Qrow’s hands, a slight flush working its way up his neck and ears.

“Bed?” asked Qrow after a while.

James’ eyes fluttered open, unfocused and pupils dilated. “Hm?”

Qrow cleared his throat and looked away. “It’s late. We’ve got matches to watch tomorrow.”

“Right,” said James. “Bed.” His voice was hoarse when he said it, and Qrow swallowed hard. He backed up a few steps, turned, and headed into the bathroom. And he _absolutely did not flee_.

Once he was in there, he locked the door and slumped against it, sighing deeply.

_Fuck._

* * *

 

The arena was packed the next morning for the first of the final rounds in the Vytal Festival Tournament. James was beaming as he took his place in the front row. The first match of the day was Penny’s and she was going up against Deimos Kováltio, a second year Beacon student who James wasn’t terribly familiar with. He knew they were the leader of Team DMND, but that was the extent of his knowledge.

“Excited?” asked Qrow as they sat down.

“I am,” said James. “And a bit nervous,” he admitted.

Qrow scoffed. “I’ve seen her fight, Jim, she’s gonna kick ass.”

James chuckled. “As long as she has fun, I don’t mind how the match goes.”

“’Course,” said Qrow. “Wouldn’t expect you to say otherwise.”

James smiled and turned back to the match just in time for it to begin. Penny gave her customary salute as she spread her swords, and Deimos unfolded their escrima sticks, whose ends were glowing blue with ice dust. The two circled each other, then Penny shot her swords forward. Deimos leaped into the air, jumping onto a sword, and back-flipped above Penny. Slammed their sticks into the ground as they turned and sent ice shooting across the stage.

Penny grinned and leaped into the air, her swords swinging around her and cutting through the ice. Deimos dodged. Swapped out their dust canisters in their sticks for another set on their legs. Their sticks lit up red this time.

The battle raged on. Penny and Deimos switching easily between melee and ranged combat. Both their auras plummeted steadily until Deimos was at thirty percent and Penny was at fifty.

Penny switched her swords to her guns and blasted Deimos, sending them scrambling to dodge and get a shield up. While they got the icy shield up in time, they were thrown backward from the force of the attack and flew off the stage.

And that was that. Penny was going to the free-for-all.

James leaped to his feet and whooped with the rest of the Atlas students. Didn’t bother trying to contain himself. Beside him, Qrow put his fingers in his mouth and let loose a shrieking whistle that rang above most of the cheers. Penny turned from down on the stage and looked at them both. Her face split into a wide grin and she waved happily.

The screen view changed to James and Qrow, who were still cheering. James caught sight of himself and looked at Qrow, who furrowed his brow.

“They want us to celebrate as well,” explained James, raising his voice to be heard. Qrow nodded slowly, turning toward James. Without another thought, James cupped Qrow’s jaw with his gloved hand and drew him in for a kiss. There was a split second of hesitation before Qrow wound his arms around James’ neck and dragged him down to deepen it. And _oh_. That was nice. That was very, very nice.

The crowd went _wild_ , cheering so loudly that James’ ears hurt. He and Qrow pulled back and James felt his heart stutter in his chest. Felt his breath catch at the look of Qrow with half closed eyes and slightly red lips.

“We should go congratulate her,” said James, clearing his throat. Qrow nodded. The two disentangled from each other and ducked through the crowds of people in the stands. They stood just far enough away that they didn’t touch, and James couldn’t help but feel that was by design.

He took a deep breath, bracing himself, and put an arm around Qrow’s shoulders. A pleasant thrill of surprise shot through him when Qrow leaned into him and flashed him a smile. Maybe the kiss _hadn’t_ ruined everything. Maybe they were going to be fine.

And maybe James was far too aware of how warm Qrow was against his side. But he could ignore that, really, if it meant getting Qrow back for good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on [Tumblr](anipendragon.tumblr.com) for ficlets, extra information, and fabulous previews.


	12. Free-For-All

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final tournament chapter, don't worry. We'll get back to proper Ironqrow soon.
> 
> Oh also. Enjoy! :D
> 
> Comments are love.

James awoke content, something that had escaped him for quite some time until that morning. Qrow was curled against his side, snuffling lightly, and James found himself absently stroking Qrow’s hair, watching the other man sleep.

Then, he realized what he was doing and pulled his hand back. Clearing his throat, he nudged Qrow, slightly. Qrow whined.

“Qrow, the free-for-all match is today. I don’t want to be late,” said James. Qrow sighed and peeled himself off James, imprints from his prosthetics on his face, and stretched, cat-like, as he stood.

“All right, all right,” mumbled Qrow. “I’m taking first shower.” He stumbled off, not looking back, and James was grateful for that. If only because he found he couldn’t stop staring at the thin line of pale skin he could see from Qrow’s bunched up sleep shirt.

James swallowed hard and got up. The final match was today. Penny and Neon were both in it. He could deal with everything else _after_ he cheered them on.

* * *

 

The arena was already packed by the time Qrow and James arrived. James pressed a hand to the small of Qrow’s back and led him to the seats in the front row. Ruby, Blake, and Weiss were on one side, while Team JNPR, minus Pyrrha, was on the other. Dozens of Atlas students, including Ciel, sat around them as well.

James smiled at it all, glad to see so many people eager to watch such a historic match.

“You’re rooting for Pyrrha, right Blake?” asked Ruby from her spot next to Qrow.

Blake went red. “I mean, I should,” she mumbled. “But this is the first time in Vytal history that a Faunus has made it to the final round.” She smiled sheepish. “Two, actually. So I’m… kind of rooting for both Pyrrha and Velvet.”

With a giggle, Ruby shoved her shoulder. “Don’t let Yang know that, she’ll get all pouty. She wants Pyrrha to win.”

“Or she might just root for Velvet and say ‘forget Pyrrha,’” murmured Weiss.

“Weiss!” said Blake, sounding scandalized. “She wouldn’t do that… would she?” The last two words were quiet and spoken with burning cheeks.

Qrow snorted and James pressed his lips together to keep himself from laughing at the noise.

“Kid, she’s a Xiao Long. She’d punch a plane if it’d impress you,” said Qrow. Blake turned even redder and slid down in her seat, but James saw that she was smiling giddily.

“Ah, young love,” said Nora from the other side of James. Blake groaned and buried her face in her hands.

Then, “What’s going on?” Yang walked up, holding drinks and popcorn and sat down next to Blake. She handed one of the two drinks to Blake and smiled. “You okay?”

Blake smiled back and shyly took the drink. “I’m better now.” Yang grinned.

James shook his head, glancing to Qrow with a small smile, who grinned back, and they all turned their attention to the free-for-all that was about to begin.

“Welcome one and all to the final match of the Vytal Tournament,” said Bart over the speakers. “We have a very exciting match for all of you today.”

“Indeed,” said Peter. “For the first time in Vytal Tournament history, our championship match has come down to only two schools – Atlas and Beacon Academy.” He laughed. “These four young women are bursting with energy to fight for their schools, and I, for one, cannot wait to see who wins.”

Bart nodded onscreen. “Velvet Scarlatina and Pyrrha Nikos are representing Beacon Academy.” Cheers rose up from the arena as Velvet and Pyrrha waved from their spots on stage. Velvet waved shyly while Pyrrha gave her customary fist raise, a holdover from her time in the Mistral tournaments. “And Neon Katt and Penny Poledina of Atlas!” More cheers, James joined in with his own clapping and someone let out a sharp whistle behind him.

Penny and Neon both waved, Penny reserved and smiling, and Neon bouncing and grinning. James was cheering for both of them, of course, but at the end of the day, any of these four huntresses could win and he wouldn’t be too disappointed. He obviously wanted one of his own to win, but even if he was closer to Penny, and had a stronger connection to her, he couldn’t pick her over Neon. Neon had worked hard at this, and he adored her. It would have been wrong to wish one of them to lose so the other could win.

“The match will end when all but one competitor has been eliminated,” said Bart. “The remaining competitor will be crowned the winner of the Vystal Festival Tournament!”

“With that, let’s get started. Three! Two! One! Begin!” came Peter’s voice. Velvet and Penny tore off across the stage, Penny’s swords extended as Velvet dove behind an array of rocks. On the other side of the stage, Neon and Pyrrha went head to head. Neon’s glow sticks lit up as she twisted around and around Pyrrha, who kept her shield up and her weapon in sword form.

Velvet and Penny’s fight was fast and hard. James had no idea what Velvet’s semblance or weapon were, but she seemed to be on the verge of pulling one, or both, just to keep up with Penny. As Velvet leaped into the air, a translucent wire-frame version of Ruby’s scythe appeared around her. The entire crowd gasped, a bunch of them cheering and getting to their feet.

The scythe met the swords. The two clashed along the rocks and trees. Scythe to Blake’s sword and sheath and then to Yang’s gauntlets. Faster and faster Velvet and Penny moved, blurring together in blue and green and peach until James couldn’t be sure which blows were landing and which were glancing off.

Velvet pulled Penny’s swords next, the swords swinging out around her and clashing with Penny’s actual swords. But Penny had more practice, and more finesse, and she cut through the swords and caught Velvet. Velvet braced, slid, and flew out of the arena.

“Knock out!” came Peter’s voice.

Meanwhile, across the stage, Pyrrha fired off rifle shots at Neon, which Neon either avoided or deflected as she spun around and around Pyrrha. She came in fast and hard, beating at Pyrrha with her glow sticks, but Pyrrha’s aura barely budged. James pressed his lips together. He’d seen Pyrrha fight before – she was a stamina fighter. Neon didn’t hit hard enough to do proper damage. She’d have to get Pyrrha in a corner in order to get the power advantage.

Pyrrha swung around on Neon’s next glide in. The rifle shifted into a spear, went over her shoulders, and she spun, catching Neon’s shirt on the end. Flipped her into the air, Neon on her back, and slammed Neon into the ground. Neon was up again, stumbling, rhythm lost. Pyrrha shifted to sword form and came at Neon.

One, two, three hits. Shield up, sword swinging. Twist and strike. Pyrrha beat Neon across the stage, Neon’s aura steadily plummeting up on screen. Neon broke free, leaped into the air, but Pyrrha met her halfway. Two strikes of her shield against Neon, grabbed her with the spear form as it shifted, and _whipped_ Neon out of the arena.

“Knock out! That one looked painful folks,” shouted Peter. James winced. He hoped Neon was all right. She’d fought hard again Pyrrha and had fared well. He’d have to congratulate her after the fight. Make sure she knew that.

Then, Pyrrha hit the ground, spun. Spear shifting to sword as she brought up her shield and faced Penny.

Penny’s eyes narrowed. The two circled each other, neither one moving. Penny moved first.

She threw out her swords in an arc toward Pyrrha. Pyrrha jumped, landed on one of the swords. Front-flipped off it toward Penny. Got in close only to have Penny’s swords arc around her and shoot in. Pyrrha leaped back. Twisted around. Spear to rifle and then firing, the shots deflected with a sweep of Penny’s swords.

James saw Pyrrha’s eyes narrow on camera, saw her calculating for the weaknesses – the gaps – in Penny’s fighting style. Pyrrha ran forward again, this time skidding on her side underneath the swords and then leaping up and twisting around to get to Penny from behind. Three shots, these ones connecting with Penny’s aura. Penny stumbled. Spun. Swords up and heading for Pyrrha.

One of the swords veered at the last second, Pyrrha never moving. James’ eyes went wide. Had she…?

No. Not possible.

Pyrrha came at Penny again, rifle shifting to sword as she beat against the other swords. Sent two of them flying and sticking into the ground of the arena. Penny frowned and focused her swords closer. Two of them transformed, shooting green lasers. Pyrrha’s shield came up, deflecting the lasers. They cut through the two transformed swords, which fell to the ground, useless.

“Hey!” came Penny’s voice.

“I’m sorry!” was Pyrrha’ reply. Ruby whooped and cheered, Qrow snorted at the words.

Penny separated her swords, sending some into the air and some down in front of Pyrrha. They came at Pyrrha from three directions and Pyrrha leaped through them, twisting and spinning up into the air in impossible ways. But all the swords missed, some of them driving into the ground, and the crowd gasped. Pyrrha used her shield to knock another sword out of the arena. Five down. Five to go.

The clash of metal on metal mixed with the screams of the crowds until James’ ears rang with the sound. He cheered alongside them, clapping his hands together and whooping alongside Yang and Ruby.

Penny threw Pyrrha into the air with a flick of the sword Pyrrha was standing on. Pyrrha flipped over and over, sword to rifle and then firing at Penny. Penny deflected all but one of the shots. Stumbled at the last contact. Swords dipping.

Pyrrha hit the ground, rolled, came up close to Penny. Her shield connected with Penny, driving her backward. James gasped, eyes growing wide and reaching out and grabbing Qrow’s hand tightly with his right one. Qrow squeezed back.

The swords reformed and shot at Pyrrha. At the last second, Pyrrha ducked out of the way, the swords swung back around, dancing behind Penny.

The two came at each other again and a great rumble shook their stage. They both stumbled. Pyrrha took a knee. On the screen, they stared at each other, eyes wide and confused. The screens went dark a moment later. The crowd screamed.

And then, with a great groaning shriek, the arena began to fall.


	13. Panic in the Sky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end of act one.
> 
> The author would like you all to know that they regret many things. ...This chapter is **not** one of them.

The screams of the crowd mixed with the screams of the falling arena, swelling into a cacophonous racket that had James’ head ringing. He stood, the world shaking, and turned toward the fleeing, panicking people, already drawing up his General voice for commands.

“Jim, the girl!” Qrow’s voice cut through the noise and James spun around again just in time to see a civilian go over the edge of the stands as the shield around them dropped. He jerked forward, grabbed the girl’s hand and hauled her back onto their side.

“Thank you,” she said.

James nodded. “Get to the ships. They’ll get you out of here.” He caught Qrow’s gaze as the others around them stood and ran toward the exit of the arena, screaming. It shook and shuddered. A great crash as it tipped sideways and James swayed. Falling. Slowly but falling. The dust crystals couldn’t keep up with whatever had happened to them.

“What do we do?” asked Qrow. “General?”

James straightened just in time to see Glynda leap out of the crowd and touch down on one knee in the centre of the arena. She slammed her riding crop into the stage. Purple glyphs shot up around her and onto the arena. With a great shudder, it stopped.

“Glynda!” shouted James, his voice lost in the noise.

His scroll rang and auto-clicked onto the emergency frequency. “Get everyone out,” said Glynda’s voice, already strained. “I can handle this.”

“Right,” said James. He looked to Qrow, trying not to let the worry show in his expression. “Spread out, get as many as you can out. I’ll meet you at the docks.” Qrow nodded, grabbed his nieces, and they were gone.

James gestured to the others around him. “Get the civilians out if you can, otherwise, head for the docks. We need to get this place cleared before…” He trailed off. Everyone nodded and took off in different directions.

Turning his back to the others as they ran off, James turned his attention to the people around him, half of whom were fleeing and half of whom were looking to him for answers.

“You need to head to the docks as quickly and calmly as possible,” said James in his loudest, most commanding voice. “Tell anyone you come across to do the same.” They nodded and ran off, grabbing at those who were still sitting around in shock.

James headed for the announcer booth as quickly as he could, stepping around others without ever getting in their way. People parted for him as he went, most of them asking what to do – he repeated himself over and over again, telling them to head for the docks. He was aware, in the back of his mind that there were not enough ships for everyone to get to safety, but he could call more if his scroll wasn’t jammed.

He pushed open the door to the announcer booth as Bart and Peter got it working again.

“Go ahead,” said Bart. “You know this part better than we do. We’re going to help the evacuation.” Bart and Peter both took off then, grabbing their weapons as they went.

“Citizens of the Vytal Festival, please evacuate the arena quickly and calmly. Professor Goodwitch has this handled,” said James over the system. “There will be ships waiting for you to get you to safety. Stay calm and everything will be fine.”

People streamed out of the arena, some of them less frenzied than before. James checked his scroll, gaze going to Glynda. Her hair was hanging over her face now, her shoulders quivering slightly. His scroll put her aura at about sixty percent. He pressed his lips together and called up one of his captains.

“Sir!” said the captain, snapping a salute. “What do you need?”

“Bring all the ships up to the arena, we don’t need the soldiers, just the ships. We’re evacuating,” said James.

The captain’s eyes flashed with concern. “Are you under attack?”

“In a matter of speaking, but it’s more important to get everyone out, right now,” said James.

The captain flashed another salute. “Sir!” he said, and then he was gone. James shoved his scroll back into his jacket and headed out into the arena.

He helped people to their feet as they stumbled, driving them toward the docks with soft hands and softer words. They were loud words, but they had to be. People were shouting and screaming and no amount of James’ diplomacy was going to change that.

As he reached the docks, he saw his other ships pulling up. Qrow and some of the others were over at one ship, guiding people in who were a little injured from the initial fall.

“Qrow!” called James. Qrow turned, the relief evident on his expression even from a distance. He jogged over to them and looked around at the evacuation effort.

“We got most of them out,” said Qrow. “You got the rest?”

James nodded. “Yes. This should be all of them. We should do another sweep.”

“Right,” said Qrow. As he said that, the arena shivered and a few of the glyphs around them vanished. Qrow swore and dove for one of the kids about to slide off the docks. James grabbed two more civilians who were scrambling to stay upright, and he saw Ruby and Yang link arms to catch a few more.

The arena righted itself. The glyphs flickered above them, not solidifying.

“Glynda’s losing steam, Jim,” said Qrow. “When she drops, she’s gonna drop with the arena.”

“I’ll go get her,” said James. Qrow caught his wrist as he turned.

“I’ll go get her, you and I both know I can get down easier,” said Qrow. “You’re better at this evacuation stuff anyway.”

James nodded. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash of red and black. He and Blake turned in unison. Her eyes were narrowed.

“Adam,” she hissed. And she took off.

“Blake!” shouted Yang.

Qrow grabbed her shoulder. James checked his scroll in the split second he had a chance.

_Glynda Goodwitch – Aura level, 10%._

James paled and looked at Qrow, who was holding back Yang.

“I’ll go get her too, you all need to get out of here while you still have a chance,” said Qrow. “This place is too high up for your landing strategies.”

“Not for mine,” said Yang, jerking out of Qrow’s grip. She spun and glared at him. “She’s my partner. I’m going after her.”

Qrow’s eyes hardened and James felt his heart clench. There was no way he could keep Yang behind. He could see the fire in her eyes. She’d fight through everyone in the arena just to get to Blake right now. James swallowed hard, gaze finding Qrow again.

Yeah, he could relate.

“Fine,” said Qrow. “But you stay with me and follow my lead, got it? If this _is_ Adam Taurus, a couple of Beacon kids are nothing to him.”

Yang nodded, the fire in her eyes staining them red. “Let’s go,” she said.

Qrow hesitated for a split second, hundreds upon hundreds of people still streaming around them. Then, Qrow strode forward, planting his hands on the other side of James’ face. He dragged James down, lifting himself onto his toes and planting a fierce kiss on James’ lips. James grabbed Qrow around the waist and yanked them flush together. Kissed back with intensity he didn’t know he possessed.

When they pulled back, flushed and staring at each other, Qrow gave him a lopsided grin and winked. “See you on the other side, Jim,” he said. Then he disentangled himself from James, gestured to Yang, and was gone.

James gave himself two seconds, two seconds that were both infinitely long and horrifically short, to stare at Qrow’s retreating figure. Then he turned his attention back to the evacuation effort and began shouting orders and organizing ships.

* * *

 

Qrow and Yang ran through the corridors together. Qrow had his sword out and Yang had her gauntlets dropped and extended. They kept their eyes and ears open and searching. Both were alert and alive with energy. Qrow with the adrenaline that came just before a good fight and Yang had that nervous energy about her that came from inexperience in improvised fights.

As they hit the arena, Qrow saw Glynda up on stage, her entire body curled around her crop as she struggled to hold up the arena. It shuddered again and Qrow fought the urge to check his scroll. He didn’t have the luxury. Best to assume they were out of time.

“Darling, why do you run?” came a loud voice. Qrow’s head snapped to the edge of the arena, where Blake had her gun out, shooting at Taurus. His sword easily absorbed the blows and he approached steadily.

“Blake!” shouted Yang. Blake’s head snapped around and Qrow bolted for the stage. _Don’t look away from the enemy!_ His mind screamed at her but she didn’t seem to notice. He leaped onto the stage just as Taurus reached Blake. Qrow shot, Taurus’ sword skittered from the shot as it came forward, giving Blake the moment to get out of the way. Her afterimage was sliced in half as Blake leaped back. Yang hit the stage. The arena tilted wildly to the left.

Planting his sword, Qrow braced himself and swung around. Glynda cried out behind him. Her aura flashed and vanished in the corner of Qrow’s eye. The arena swung again and started to slip, but it held, the glyphs paling but not yet disappearing.

_How was she doing that with her aura gone?_

“Blake!” came Yang’s voice again. She charged at Taurus just as the arena tipped again. Qrow yanked his sword out of the stage, flipped it over, and shot at Taurus as he slid toward the other man. He swung around, scythe unfolding, just as Blake shot at Taurus again. His hair lit up. Qrow swore.

Yang got to him first. She had gravity with her and Qrow had it against him. She drew back, leaping into the air to punch. Taurus struck.

“Yang!” Blake’s scream shot through the arena. Qrow swung around, scythe finding Taurus’. Their weapons clashed over the blood already slicking the arena’s stage. Anger painted Qrow’s entire body. He snarled and hissed and swung at Taurus with everything he had. One, two, three hits. A fourth and Taurus’ hair lit up again.

The arena swung even wider. Glynda collapsed with a shout. The glyphs vanished. It started to fall. Everything shook and quaked. Qrow swore, booted Taurus in the chest, and sent him tumbling off the stage. Before he could recover, he turned to Blake, who was cradling Yang in her arms.

Blood was already spreading across Yang’s stomach and chest from the wound just below her ribs. Qrow swallowed hard and swore under his breath.

“Grab her,” said Qrow. The arena jerked. Qrow dropped his scythe into its travel form and hooked it to his back. “I’ve got Glynda. Let’s get out of here.” Blake nodded. Qrow grabbed Glynda. They took off down the corridor, Taurus giving up as the arena swayed even harder. It dropped and shuddered, its dust crystals trying to hold it up. Parts of the corridor collapsed as they ran. Qrow took one chunk of ceiling to the shoulder and grit his teeth.

As they hit the docks, Qrow saw the last ship with its open gangplank. James stood on the ship, which was already starting to pull away.

“Jump!” shouted James.

“Go!” Qrow shouted to Blake. She swung Yang a little higher on her side and pushed off hard from the falling arena. The afterimage appeared and Blake jerked forward. James grabbed her arm and hauled both of them into the ship. Qrow leaped off the edge a second later, throwing the unconscious Glynda into the ship. He didn’t jump far enough. She landed and he slipped, falling.

James grabbed his wrist and hauled him into the ship. The door closed behind them.

Both of them collapsed to the floor, the rest of team RWBY, as well as Team SSSN sitting with them.

“Are you all right?” asked James.

“Yang,” Qrow said. His gaze found her. Her eyes fluttered. She whimpered, but the blood seemed to be slowing. Sun pressed his hands to the wound and Blake rested Yang’s head in her lap.

Blake was crying. “I’m so sorry,” she croaked. She bowed her head. Tears splattered onto Yang’s face. “I’m so, so sorry.”

“Not your fault,” said Qrow, sitting up. James rolled over Glynda and got her hooked into a stretcher. “Personal shit is hard to let go of.” He looked to James, whose eyes were soft. “Trust me.”

Blake nodded, but she didn’t look convinced. Neptune sat down next to her and rested a hand on her shoulder.

“What happened?” asked James. Qrow climbed onto the bench next to James, Glynda on the stretcher on the other side.

“Taurus was there, he got Yang, her aura should help her though. She… she’s strong,” said Qrow, his voice faltered on the last word. He paused, frowning. “Glynda’s aura _broke_ , Jim, I watched it.” He looked up at James. “She kept up her trick until she literally keeled over. How do you use your semblance without an aura?”

“Willpower,” murmured James. He reached out and rested his flesh hand over Qrow’s. Qrow turned his hand over and twined their fingers together. He rested his head on James’ shoulder, tucking up close to him. “They’ll be okay.”

“I hope so,” whispered Qrow. He watched, out the small window across from him, as the arena fell to the fairgrounds, and he only hoped that they’d evacuated that as well.

* * *

 

Two days later, the Atlesian army was still picking through the fallen arena, trying to find out what had happened in the final round. Glynda was still unconscious, having not woken up since she’d keeled over in the arena. Yang was awake and recovering, the wound on her stomach probably scarring.

Blake refused to leave her side. Qrow couldn’t blame her.

In their shared quarters, Qrow and James watched as Ozpin finally gave his statement to the people of Remnant over a holo report.

_“What happened in the arena was a horrible tragedy and an act of terrorism,”_ said Ozpin, hands folded on his desk. _“The White Fang’s motives are currently unknown, but know this, we are doing everything to find out what happened. Thankfully, due in large part to the hunters of all four academies, as well as the Atlesian army on guard at the arena and in the fairgrounds, there were no casualties in the fall, nor in the Fairgrounds, which were also evacuated.”_ Ozpin gave a serene smile, but it did little to calm the twinge in Qrow’s stomach.

_“This was a horrible event, and we will be ensuring it does not happen again,”_ said Ozpin, growing serious. _“But let this be a reminder. So long as the kingdoms stand united, as they did two days ago in the arena, there is nothing we cannot accomplish. We saved every person in that arena. We stopped a horrible thing from becoming infinitely worse with death. We are a force that cannot be stopped. We, the people of Remnant, have looked in the face of fear and terror time and time again and said ‘not today.’”_ Ozpin nodded. _“Today, we must say that again. ‘Not today’. Fear is not necessary in this situation. Hope, however, is. With hope, we may be stronger, we may grow, and we may prevent this from ever happening again.”_

Ozpin tilted his head. _“So I ask, all of you, to have hope. Hope in the knowledge that we are free and we are safe. Hope in the knowledge that we stand united. And hope in the knowledge that Vale and Atlas will not stand for this act of terrorism, and that we_ will _stop this and we_ will _keep everyone safe. Thank you.”_ The holo video ended.

Qrow slumped sideways on the couch, resting his head on James’ shoulder. James tensed for a moment and Qrow frowned. What? Oh, right. Right side. Oops.

“We should talk,” murmured James. And Qrow winced, because he’d expected that as well.

“Later,” said Qrow, tucking closer to James’ right side. James slipped his arm around Qrow’s waist and Qrow let his eyes drift closed. “After we sort out everything else.”

“Okay,” said James. He kissed Qrow’s hair, the gesture only barely-there as Qrow drifted into uneasy sleep filled with visions of falling arenas and glowing eyes.


	14. Sharp Words and Sharper Blades

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so begins Act 2. Lots of stuff to cover in this act. Hoping to finish out this fic before RWBY4 starts, but we'll see. Sorry for the wait, I got caught up in other stuff and sleep. And video games. And writing other things. Heh. Whoops.
> 
> Comments are love!

Ozpin called James and Qrow up to his office the day after he gave his statement to the public. By then, about half the arena wreckage had been cleared away, many students had gone home for the year break, and whispers and rumours had spread like wildfire throughout Beacon and Vale.

“Our first priority is the rumours,” said Ozpin, once James and Qrow were standing before his desk. “We simply cannot have students feeling terrorized or targeted.”

James gave a sharp nod. “Of course. I can have my men stationed in small patrols, that should soothe their worries,” he said.

“You really think military bravado will help?” asked Qrow. He snorted and folded his arms. “Could just cause more panic.”

“I’m inclined to agree with James,” said Ozpin, slowly. Qrow rolled his eyes in an exaggerated gesture, shifted his body so he was facing partially away from James.

James sighed, soft and almost inaudible. “Thank you, Ozpin. I won’t let you down.”

“You never do,” said Ozpin. James felt his chest warm at the words and he straightened up, squaring his shoulders. Qrow shifted again, obviously ready for a sarcastic retort, but Ozpin cut him off with a sharp look. “We have several other matters to attend to.”

James clasped his hands behind his back, expression falling to a frown. “I thought we were going to wait for Glynda.”

“Unfortunately,” said Ozpin, ducking his head a touch. “Glynda is still non-responsive. Her aura has yet to return and she remains on medical support for her healing.”

Qrow frowned. “I’ve never seen someone use their semblance without an aura. Is that even possible?”

“Technically,” said Ozpin. “But it begins to take from other sources – like your life force. Glynda is very lucky she didn’t die holding up that arena.”

“She’ll count herself luckier that no one else died because of her,” said James. “She would have allowed herself to fall if it meant saving all those civilians.”

“Indeed,” said Ozpin. There was something distant in his eyes that made James heart go out for the man. Glynda was Ozpin’s closest friend, and he looked oddly vulnerable without her. James wasn’t sure he liked seeing them apart, especially with Ozpin so morose. “But let us keep the faith that she will awaken, with more than a few choice words for all of us.”

James glanced over to Qrow, who was scowling into the surface of the glass desk. “We need to track down Taurus and make him pay for what he’s done. He cannot be allowed to run around unchecked,” said James.

Qrow snorted again. Folded his arms tight across his chest and looked up at James through his bangs. “And how do you suppose we do that?” he asked.

“You told me that Taurus and Torchwick were in a territory war, before,” said James. “Surely that vagabond knows something.”

Qrow raised an eyebrow. A crooked, amused grin split his face. “You really wanna go after Torchwick without a warrant or probable cause?” he asked.

James frowned. “It could get us the information we needed.”

“Yeah, provided you’re prepared to kill over it,” said Qrow. He shook his head, a slight chuckle escaping his throat.

“Torchwick is a common thief, my men and I can handle him,” said James.

“You idiot,” said Qrow, rolling his head with his eyes. “You touch Torchwick and Xiong will come after you. He’s got his fingers in half the criminal underground.” Qrow squared his shoulders and looked him dead in the eye. “How many rogue huntsmen do you wanna take down over a hunch?”

James faltered. Blinked. Opened his mouth and closed it. Then, “Hei Xiong?” Qrow nodded. “What does he have to do with it?”

Qrow gave him another grin – this one all predatory and teeth. “That’s the great part about doing the leg work, _Jimmy_ , you get to see relationships in action.”

And oh, if that wasn’t a barb at them, James didn’t know what was. He grit his teeth, a seething retort already on his lips, but it died at Qrow’s snarling eyes.

“That’s enough,” said Ozpin, his voice gentle. “Both of you.”

Qrow and James looked away from each other, more than a touch of shame in their shoulders. James turned his attention back to Ozpin, who had his hands folded in front of his mouth.

“What do you want us to do?” asked James.

“Prepare your men for security purposes and patrols,” said Ozpin. “Qrow?” Qrow looked at him, arms still folded and jaw still clenched. “Search the arena. Perhaps you can find something the others can’t.”

Qrow nodded, turned on his heel, and walked out of the room. No sarcastic remarks, no snarky body language, nothing.

“What happened between you two?” asked Ozpin. “You used to be such good friends.”

James sighed and rubbed his face. “Marriage,” he said, simply, and he headed out of the office as well.

* * *

 

Qrow stuffed his hands in his pockets and scowled at the pavement as he walked through the courtyard and toward the festival grounds. He kept his head down, trusting his general aura of frustration to keep people from bumping into him.

It wasn’t like he could shake the frustration, after all. Too many thoughts swirled around in his head, clashing and screaming until Qrow wanted to claw inside his own brain to rip them out.

Everything was falling apart. He never should have kissed James. But James had kissed _back_ , and then kissed his head later on that night. Allowed them to cuddle. Held Qrow close in his sleep.

And damn it, he’d spent years forcing back these feelings. Years convincing himself that he and James were friends, just friends, and that that was perfectly fine. But it wasn’t. It _wasn’t_. And he couldn’t keep thinking it was.

Whatever they were now, it wasn’t friends. Hell, it wasn’t even _lovers_. The image was cracking around the edges and soon people were going to notice. If the panic in the streets didn’t distract them, that was.

God, if this wasn’t incredibly fucked up. He never should have let this happen. Never should have let them do this. Should have just dealt with the fallout and disappeared back to Patch. Wallowed in self-pity and unrequited feelings while Taiyang made soup and sang off-key in the kitchen.

He rubbed a hand through his hair and cursed under his breath. Felt the way a handful of eyes followed him as he walked. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, still frowning.

Whispers started up around Qrow and he lifted his gaze to see a woman in white eyeing him disdainfully. He paused, raised an eyebrow as he raised his head.

“Did you need something?” asked Qrow. “Or are you just here to gawk?” He placed her as Atlas, probably a Specialist based on the military precision of her stance and her outfit. The sharp line of her bun was accented by asymmetrical bangs. Qrow raised an eyebrow at that. Atlas was all about symmetry – that was part of why James kept himself covered.

After their incident with the bathroom, Qrow knew the rest of that reason.

“Do you know who I am?” asked the woman. Her arms were folded behind her back, the gesture so James-like that Qrow squinted at it. God, he needed a drink. If strange women from Atlas were going to be asking him stupid questions, he didn’t want to be sober.

“Can’t say I do, ice queen,” said Qrow. He let his gaze drag across her body. Dismissive and disappointed, all at once. “Should I?”

“If you knew anything about Atlas, you should,” said the woman.

Qrow chuckled. “Let me ask you something,” said Qrow. “Do you know who I am?”

“Qrow Branwen,” she said. “Supposed husband to General James Ironwood, my superior.”

Qrow raised an eyebrow. “Supposed? Well then, maybe I should give you a full demonstration of what a supposed husband is capable of, _sweetheart_.”

The woman growled. She drew her sword and pointed it at Qrow. A hush went over the onlookers. “If you think you can handle an Atlesian Specialist, then I welcome a good laugh.” She flicked her sword downward at her side. “And _don’t_ call me sweetheart.”

Qrow winked, and raised one hand, flicking his fingers in a “come hither” gesture. With a growl, the woman shot across the courtyard toward Qrow. Her sword darted toward his throat. He leaned left, then right, then left again. Leaned forward so her sword caught his folded sword-scythe across his back. Swung it out and around, unfolding it as it went, and smirked, crossing blades with her.

The two danced back and forth for a moment, trying to judge each other’s fighting styles. Qrow figured it out faster. One arm behind her back, back and forth shift. She was a fencer, through and through.

He shifted stance. Swung wide. She recovered, danced backward, shifting into backflips that didn’t get enough coverage for her to avoid him. He swung, caught her shoes. Back to her feet and she crossed blades with him again.

And on and on they went. Dancing across the courtyard and up onto the support pillars. Blasting through pillars and blowing up the courtyard. Tearing into each other like there was no tomorrow.

“You’re just a petty kid,” snapped Qrow, when they crossed close enough.

The woman growled and caught him in the side of the head. He absorbed the blow. Used it to blast apart one of the trees she stood next to. She leaped backward. Just missed it. Hit the ground and came in close.

“You’re just a gold digger,” she snapped back.

Left, right, block, swing. They danced closer and closer, blades slashing with deadly purpose. This was no exhibition match. Qrow wanted her _hurt._

“You Specialists don’t even earn your medals,” shouted Qrow. He leaped over her, cut her legs out from under her. She went sprawling with a yelp. Hit the ground. Rolled. Back to her feet and spinning around. Two swords now instead of one – the second smaller and hidden inside the first.

“And what, he married you for your skill?” was the woman’s reply. She slammed a sword into the ground and glyphs swirled all around her. Tiny white birds flew at Qrow. He whacked at them. They dissolved and a white Beowulf lunged.

Qrow yelped, leaped into the air. Slashed through the Beowulf and watched it dissolve. She came at him again. Faster this time. Swung and danced and slashed and blocked. Around and around they went, snarling and spitting at each other.

“Brat,” snapped Qrow.

“Drunkard,” was the woman’s reply. They cut closer and closer. His bangs swept back from his forehead with sweat and hers hanging across her eye for the same reason.

Qrow growled and swung again. “Least he likes spending time with me.” She leaped backward and sneered at his words.

She darted in close, words in his ear as she swung. “Only for your ass and your screams, no doubt,” she whispered.

Qrow faltered. She caught him in the gut. He dropped to one knee. She swung again. He swung out his legs and she leaped back. Back to his feet and he came at her. Blades crossing, both snarling, bodies aching with the long exertion of a fight and…

“Schnee! Qrow!” The sharp words of James rang out in the crowd. Both fighters froze and lowered them weapons, returning them to their sheathed positions.

“General Ironwood,” said the woman, snapping to attention. Qrow snorted and tucked his hands behind his head, smirking. He’d heard the name. So, she was a Schnee? Looked like Weiss really _was_ the only decent brat out of the bunch.

“With me, Winter,” said James. “We need to talk about this.” His gaze went to Qrow, eyes narrowed. “We’ll talk later. That was completely inappropriate.”

Qrow’s shoulders tensed even as he shrugged. “Whatever,” he snapped. The two glared at each other until James turned and walked off with Winter.

“Qrow.” This time the voice came from behind him. Qrow turned to see Ozpin standing alone in the courtyard. It struck Qrow, looking at Ozpin, that he might have never seen the man without Glynda before. “I’d like to speak with you in my office,” said Ozpin.

Qrow didn’t move.

“Now,” said Ozpin, voice low with warning.

With a sigh, Qrow followed Ozpin to the tower, not bothering to look back to see where James and Winter had gone.

He wasn’t bitter. Not at _all._


	15. Battered

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More regular updates resuming! This is a chapter I deeply, deeply looked forward to writing, so I hope y'all enjoy it.

Qrow entered the tower with Ozpin only to find that James and Winter were already there. By the looks of things, they’d been arguing, and Qrow hoped that Winter – he thought that was her name anyway – had been reamed out as hard as he was about to be.

“What was the meaning of that?” snapped James as Qrow stepped into Ozpin’s office. The Ozfice? Something.

“She started it,” Qrow threw back, a snarl on his face and in his voice. “She was the one telling lies and claiming we...” He trailed off, gritting his teeth.

Winter turned up her nose. “I did nothing of the sort,” she said. “I simply told the truth, something _you_ could no doubt learn from, _Branwen._ ”

Qrow growled and took a step forward, already shifting into a more defensive stance. He wanted to chuck this brat out a window and watch her splat on the courtyard below. Maybe that’d teach her some manners.

God, he needed a drink.

“You two are going to tell me what happened, right now,” said James. He folded his arms and looked between the two, eyes narrowed.

“Ice Queen here thinks we’re faking,” said Qrow tightly. He stabbed a finger at her and then folded his arms tightly across his chest. He wanted, desperately, to grab his flask and take a long swing from it, but he knew James would give him a _look._ “I took offense.”

James sighed and put one hand over his face, and Qrow had no idea what was running through his head right now. Angry comments? Questioning questions? Something, at least. Maybe pointed at Winter, but probably pointed at him. That was how these things went.

“Winter,” started James, but Winter cut him off.

“Sir, with respect, I don’t understand how you could possibly marry someone like Qrow Branwen,” said Winter, wrinkling her nose and pinching her brow. “He’s… he’s…”

“A hedonistic, drunken buffoon?” offered Qrow. James gave him a look that Qrow couldn’t place, and Qrow just shrugged. They weren’t words he’d usually use to describe himself, or even words he’d usually say. But they were true, and they were the words that stuck with him most of the time.

“Something like that,” said Winter. “And arrogant, besides.” Her gaze went back to James. Qrow snorted. Arrogant? Oh, the ice queen needed to spend a bad day in his head. “Why would you marry him?”

“Winter,” said James, firmly. “My relationships are not your concern. Qrow and I are married, that’s all you need to know.”

“But, sir,” started Winter.

“Enough,” said James, sharply. “Whether or not you believe it means little in this situation.” Qrow stuck out his tongue at Winter. “And you,” said James, turning his attention to Qrow. Qrow pointed to himself, brow furrowed. “Where do you get off?”

“If I’m lucky? Right next to you,” quipped Qrow.

Winter made a choked noise in the back of her throat and a flush tore across James’ ears and the underside of his jaw. “Qrow, that is not _remotely_ what I meant.” He put one hand over his face and took a deep breath. “What made you think attacking one of my Specialists was a good idea?”

Qrow shrugged and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “She started the altercation, Jim, I didn’t.” He ignored the way James narrowed his eyes at Qrow. Ignored the way his jaw clenched and his fingers tightened together. It was one thing for James to be upset with him, but to not defend him – or _them_ – to one of his underlings? To brush aside the comment that they weren’t real?

That hurt.

But it was true. Even if Winter didn’t know that. It was all true.

“You shouldn’t have engaged,” said James, tightly.

“Maybe _she_ shouldn’t have said what she did,” snapped Qrow. “Maybe she shouldn’t have claimed we’re faking.” His voice rose as he spoke and he got right up in James’ face, throwing one arm wide to gesture at Winter. “Maybe she shouldn’t have told me I’m nothing but a piece of _ass_ to you!”

James’ expression flashed to something resembling confusion for a second, before shifting to something closer to concern. Qrow slammed his hands back into his pockets and looked away, face wrinkled and jaw tight.

“That’s what this is about?” James’ voice was as soft as Qrow had heard it in days. “Qrow…”

“Forget it,” snapped Qrow, baring his teeth at James. James frowned at him. “It’s not like it’s not _true._ All I ever am to anyone.” He turned and stalked toward the elevator, shoving past Ozpin, who remained silent. “Just a piece of ass.” And then he was gone, stabbing the buttons of the elevator and watching the door slip shut. The last thing he saw was James’ hurt expression, and the sorrow in those blue, blue eyes.

* * *

 

Qrow spent an hour wandering through Vale, trying to shove all the thoughts that had come loose in the office to the back of his mind. But it didn’t work. Thoughts of James, their friendship, their relationship, their… whatever it was they were, blurred together in his mind until all he could think about was how much he hated himself for letting this happen.

He’d fallen for James. He’d fallen hard and fast because he’d already fallen years ago. Fallen and hidden it in the back of his mind until he had managed to force himself to forget. Or else ignored it long enough that he hadn’t thought about it for almost two years.

With a groan, Qrow opened the door to the Crow Bar and stalked across the bar, dropping onto one of the stools and ordering a shot.

He tossed it back and tapped for another. Then another. Tossed back shot after shot as the early evening bled to late evening and late evening bled to night. He drank until his mind blurred and his tongue loosened. Until his face heated and his head swam.

“He doesn’t get it,” Qrow slurred to the bar tender. “He’s never fucking gotten it. Man doesn’t know how beautiful he is. How much I’ve always cared.” Qrow let his arm drop onto the bar and sighed. “I’ve always cared,” he murmured.

The bar tender nodded in the corner of Qrow’s vision, shaky as it was. “Have you tried talking to him?”

“Nope,” said Qrow. “Can’t. Guy doesn’t know what’s good for ‘im. Doesn’t realize how deep the rabbit hole goes.” He tossed back another shot and slammed it on the counter. Sighed. “Just want ‘im to see.”

The bar tender nodded. “Good luck, man,” he said.

Qrow shoved back from the bar and tossed down some lien. He waved away the bar tender’s look and stumbled for the door. Maybe a liquor store was still open. He needed more.

* * *

 

Qrow ended up buying whiskey from the closest liquor store still open. He stuffed the bag under one arm, shoved his hands in his pockets, and stumbled his way back toward Beacon Academy. The cool autumn breeze ruffled his hair and Qrow grimaced at the bitter taste in his mouth.

His thoughts were blurry and jumbled, dancing across one another until Qrow wasn’t sure where he was or where he was going. All he could see, all he could think about, was James. James’ mouth and James’ voice. James’ hands and James’ eyes. The gentle way James looked at him and the way his mouth felt against Qrow’s. The strength of his arms and the lilt of his laugh.

God, he wanted that man. God, he wanted to _do things_ to that man.

God, he needed another drink.

By the time Qrow got back to the school, he was walking straight again, despite what he wanted, and he managed to stuff himself into the elevator and stumble up to the door of his apartment.

James’ apartment.

 _Their_ apartment.

Qrow groaned and smacked his head against the door, arms at his sides and paper bag in one hand. James was probably in there, waiting. He was probably angry. Probably wanted to talk to Qrow about “insubordination” and “disobedience” and “public image”. Never mind that Qrow wasn’t one of his soldiers. Never mind that Qrow was his husband – fake husband, he corrected, _fake_ husband. None of that mattered to James.

But god, if he didn’t love the man. And he wanted to apologize. Not just because he’d fought Winter – she’d deserved it – but because James didn’t need him wrecking his image any further.

He’d already done enough of that, as of late.

Taking a deep breath, Qrow pushed open the door of the small apartment.

James was sitting at the kitchen table, Scroll in one hand and head in the other. He looked up when Qrow shut the door and his entire face lit up.

“Qrow, I was wondering where you were,” he said. He stood and crossed the door. “Listen I – are you drunk?”

“Only half,” said Qrow, shrugging. He left out the part where he was starting to sober up from the brisk walk, rather than he hadn’t gotten all the way drunk in the first place. He held up the paper bag. “Wanna finish the job with me?”

James faltered. “We should talk.”

“Yup,” said Qrow. _Nope._ “Drink?”

James sighed. “Fine,” he said. “Drinks.” He stepped into the small kitchen and pulled down two glasses. With a gesture, Qrow led James into the living room, and the two dropped down onto the plush cushions.

“I don’t just think you’re a piece of ass,” said James, softly, as Qrow poured the first drinks. “You’re a good friend, Qrow.”

Qrow snorted. “Right,” he said. _Friend._ He downed his glass in one go. “She’s just some Atlas army brat, Jim, I don’t let it bother me.”

“You seemed bothered earlier,” said James, voice warm and fluid. He drained his own glass. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

Qrow didn’t say anything. Just poured another glass.

And they kept on like that, pouring drinks and sitting in almost silence, Qrow too bothered to actual say anything, and unable to figure out why James didn’t. Maybe he wanted Qrow to respond. Maybe he didn’t know what to say.

Or maybe he just hated Qrow. Who knew? He didn’t.

So on and on they drank, until Qrow’s head was buzzing pleasantly and James was slumped with one arm over the back of the couch, his hand brushing Qrow’s shoulder. And maybe James didn’t have his tolerance – few people did, outside of Glynda. And maybe Qrow had brought home alcohol for a whole other reason than just to get himself drunk again.

And maybe he just wanted one night where it wasn’t the two of them arguing or bickering or putting up an image for the world.

So when James’ fingers started brushing his shoulder, he settled against the gesture and let it wash over him. Let himself pretend it was something more than it was.

More drinks. More warmth. More curling closer and closer. Qrow could barely think. James’ words were slow and measured when he spoke.

And oh, Qrow loved that voice so much.

“You know,” said James absently. “You may not be a piece of ass, but you have a _great_ one.”

Qrow snorted and leaned back on James’ arm. He liked flirting. Flirting was good. Warm and fuzzy like the alcohol that pooled in his veins.

“You really think so?” he asked. “I figured you just kept me around for my charming personality.”

James hummed and leaned over, nuzzling the side of Qrow’s head. Qrow was warm, pleasantly so, and his entire body buzzed with proximity to James. On the table, the whiskey bottle was almost empty, and James’ last glass was still half full.

Some part of Qrow’s brain, way back, told him that James’ nuzzling him wasn’t a good thing. But Qrow shoved that part back and shifted closer to the gesture, revelling in the contact. He liked cuddling. Liked being close to James. Liked tangling himself up in the man’s limbs when he went to bed at night and liked waking up half covered by James.

“You’ve got a pretty great one yourself,” said Qrow, words slightly slurred. He twisted a bit, breath ghosting James’ jaw. “Every inch of you is pretty great, actually.”

James chuckled. “I’m not that great.” He held out his right hand to Qrow, the left one still slung across his shoulders. Gloveless and with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, Qrow could see the white and silver metal that made up James’ hand and arm. “Mostly just metal.”

“It suits you,” said Qrow. “It’s gorgeous.”

James rolled his eyes and Qrow reached out, setting down his glass to tangle his fingers with James’. They were cool to the touch and firm. Qrow could see one of the power cells in James’ arm glowing when he turned it slightly.

“They’re perfect,” said Qrow. He looked up at James, red eyes meeting blue. “You’re perfect,” he murmured. His gaze darted down to James’ lips, then back up to his eyes. Qrow licked his lower lip slowly, his free hand trembling even as James’ tightened his hold on Qrow’s fingers.

“So are you,” whispered James. He tilted his head, their gazes almost level now. Qrow’s breath ghosted James’ jaw, and James’ breath ghosted his cheek. They stared at each other, eyes half closed and faces flushed from something more than just alcohol.

They hovered like that, neither one daring to move, neither one daring to breathe heavily. Then James was leaning in and Qrow was tilting his head up to meet him halfway. And when they kissed, Qrow tasted whiskey and metal and a thousand moments shared between the two.

The soft kiss shifted to something more passionate, the flush in Qrow turning quickly to sharp heat. He shifted up onto his knees and climbed into James’ lap, arms going around his neck. James groaned and wrapped his arms around Qrow’s waist, yanking them flush together.

Leaning back on the couch, James tilted his head up, letting Qrow kiss him even deeper. Their mouths opened to one another and they both groaned, the sounds lost in the echoes of their kissing.

Somehow, they managed to get upright. Somehow, they managed to get into the bedroom. Somehow, they didn’t fall over along the way.

And then went their shirts, pants, shoes, socks, and more, all discarded. The two of them tumbling together into bed in a blur of limbs and heat and cold and want. And all Qrow could think, throughout it all, was _finally_ , even as everything blurred together and the sounds of their coupling bled into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love!


	16. About Last Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm starting to notice a theme with my stories at about this point. Things happen in them. Heh.

Qrow woke up warmer and lighter than he had in years. He was content, curled up in the arms of someone who hung on to him as tightly as Qrow did to him, and his body was still pleasantly worn out and sore from last night. And somehow, despite his drinking, he wasn’t nearly as hungover as he’d expected. Yes, his head hurt, and yes, his stomach churned, but it was mostly pushed back by his own contentment.

Qrow hummed and snuggled closer to James, a soft smile pressed into James’ flesh shoulder and both of his hands resting on James’ chest. One on cold, one on warm. It was… perfect.

There was a stirring next to him, and Qrow lifted his head, the warmth slowly draining from his body as James shifted. When he looked up, he saw James’ eyes, wide and terrified, and his lips, which were parted and pulled tight.

“Qrow?” he said, voice tiny and tight. Immediately, the bottom of Qrow’s stomach dropped out. He shoved back from James and pushed himself upright, scooting backward with flushed cheeks. James sat up as well, staring at Qrow. They were both naked, the blankets pooling around their waists. But the blankets didn’t hide the bruises on Qrow’s hips, nor the bite marks on his shoulders and collarbone. Nor did the blankets hide the scratch marks on James’ left shoulder, or the ones that went down the left side of his back, or the bite marks that lingered on his neck.

“Morning,” managed Qrow, trying to keep the fear out of his voice. “Sleep well?” His voice cracked and he dropped his gaze.

“Fine,” murmured James. Qrow looked up at James through his bangs and saw the tightness around James’ mouth. Saw the way James rubbed his head and squinted. He was hungover. Probably ridiculously so. “Did we…?” Qrow swallowed.

_No._ There was no way James had been that drunk. He’d been able to consent. He had. Hadn’t he?

“Wait,” murmured James. He rubbed his head. “No, we. Yeah.” His body started to flush, a deep scarlet that spread across his shoulder, up his neck, and into his cheeks. “Oh.”

“Yeah,” said Qrow.

James swallowed visibly. “That was… quite the night.” He rubbed the back of his neck. He wouldn’t look at Qrow. Qrow wouldn’t look at James.

Qrow wondered, as he stared at his hands, if James remembered the way Qrow had dug his nails into his shoulders – one leaving marks, one unable to find give – or how Qrow had screamed his name long into the night. Or how they’d looked, tangled up in each other’s limbs as they moved as one. Or the way they’d curled together afterward, spent and gasping, unable to find the energy to clean up.

Out of the corner of his eye, Qrow saw James’ gaze linger on his stomach, and Qrow looked down to see the dried mess across it. He grimaced and combed his fingers through his hair.

“I need a shower,” muttered Qrow. Without another word, he swung out of bed and disappeared into the bathroom, ignoring the tiny noise James made when Qrow stood up.

He really didn’t need to think about what that noise meant.

He stood under the spray for longer than he had to, forehead against the cool tile and water sluicing down his back. Upright, he could see the extent of the marks on his skin, and when he stepped out of the shower, he finally got an idea of what the marks on his neck and collarbone looked like.

There was no possible way his regular shirt would hide them all. He’d need to wear something else today, like a turtleneck.

Great.

At least it was fall and not summer. The clothing change wouldn’t be too out of place.

When Qrow stepped back into the bedroom, James was gone, and when he checked the rest of their small Beacon apartment, he knew James had really up and left.

_Perfect._

Qrow stuffed himself into clothes, including a turtleneck he was sure was his but smelled far too much like James, and stalked off up to Ozpin’s office. Hopefully James wasn’t there. He needed to talk to Ozpin.

He needed to do _something_ or else he was going to scream.

* * *

 

James pounded on Glynda’s door, paced three steps left, three steps right, then pounded on the door again. He didn’t even know if she was awake.

God, he didn’t even know if she _could_ answer. But his first instinct had been to go to Glynda’s room. This was stupid, he should have gone to Ozpin. Glynda was in a _coma._

On the third rendition of this, the door finally opened and Glynda stared up at him, hair damp, housecoat on, and eyes somehow bleary and judgemental all at once.

“You’re awake!” said James, smiling brightly. “Glynda, that’s so incredible. How are you feeling?”

She rubbed her eyes. “Fine,” she murmured. “I still don’t have an aura, but I’m fine. I woke up sometime last night. Came back here once I got the nurses to leave me alone.” She shrugged. “Stranger things and all that.” Her gaze went to James, bleary eyes narrowed at him. “What did you need?”

James hesitated. Licked his lips. Rubbed his face. “I need your help,” he said, finally. He couldn’t quite look at her. He didn’t want to bother her, not with everything she’d dealt with in the last week or so, but he didn’t know who else he could go to.

Not Ozpin. It was too likely that Qrow had gone to Ozpin, anyway. Besides, he and Glynda had always been close.

Glynda sighed, so long suffering that James winced, and stepped aside. “Let me make us some coffee,” she said. “Then you can tell me how you fucked up this time.”

James nodded and followed Glynda into her apartment. He settled himself on the crisp, white couch that rested in front of a glass coffee table. Everything in Glynda’s apartment was white and black and chrome, with purple details and occasional patterns. There were few personal touches – a picture here and there. One of Glynda and Ozpin, the day she became assistant headmistress; another of her team – Oobleck, Port, Peach, and herself – on the day they graduated from Beacon; and a third of Qrow and James, two years ago, when they’d ended up at a conference together and sent Glynda a selfie.

A cup of coffee lowered itself into James’ vision and he smiled gratefully at Glynda, who settled herself in the arm chair across from him. She held her own cup of coffee, one leg crossed over the other. She pushed up her glasses and sighed.

“All right,” said Glynda. “So, what happened?”

“I…” James trailed off, unsure what to say next. How did he describe what had happened last night? Where did he even begin to explain it? “I may have slept with Qrow last night,” he said slowly.

Glynda’s eyebrows shot up. “Well… _shit_.”

“That’s it?” asked James. He stared at Glynda, holding his coffee tightly in both hands. “That’s all you have to say?”

Glynda sighed. She set down her coffee and steepled her fingers together, elbows resting on the arm rests. “James,” she said, in that long suffering tone of hers. “I… expected this to happen, sooner or later.”

“What? Why?” asked James. He stared at Glynda, eyebrows furrowed. What was she getting at? Why had she expected this to happen? Surely, there was something he was missing.

Glynda just stared at him. One eyebrow raised. She picked up her coffee and sipped it, switching which leg was crossed over the other. “What colour is my housecoat?” asked Glynda.

_What?_ “Purple,” said James, gaze flicking to the fabric. “Like a lavender.”

“Mm,” said Glynda. “And how much of me is it covering?”

James frowned. How much of…? What was she doing? Where was she going with all of this? “It’s… covering your body?” he guessed.

Glynda pinched the bridge of her nose and pushed her glasses up. She let out a sigh, soft and sharp all at once. “Oh my God,” she muttered. She looked up at James, lips pursed and a flat look in her eyes. “My nipples are less than an inch from the top of this housecoat. This housecoat barely covers my ass when I sit down.” She leaned forward, coffee on her knee. “I would not have answered the door in this housecoat for _anyone else in Beacon._ ”

James blinked. “So why did you answer it in that housecoat for me?” he asked.

The look Glynda gave him didn’t have a proper word to go with it. Incredulous, maybe. Shocked, probably. Absolutely boggled, definitely.

“How do you feel about what happened with Qrow?” asked Glynda.

James swallowed as he went back over the events of last night and this morning. He remembered the two of them speaking on the couch, the way he’d spoken about Qrow’s looks. The soft words that led to a softer kiss, and how that had quickly bled into passion and lust.

The bite marks, the bruises, the way he’d mapped out Qrow’s skin with his tongue. The way Qrow had looked, flushed and spread out beneath him. The way Qrow had felt, and sounded, and smelled. Sharp, like alcohol, but also soft, like a pine tree.

And he remembered now, Qrow’s face when he’d seen James naked. The soft smile, the lingering touches and kisses. The gentle words of encouragement and the even gentler compliments. All of it culminating in…

James cleared his throat, feeling a flush work its way across his face and neck. He rubbed under his nose and averted his gaze from Glynda.

“Well?” prompted Glynda.

“I…” James faltered. “I _liked_ it.” His voice was soft, the words a confession spoken into the floor. His gaze darted up to meet Glynda’s and she only watched him, expression slightly concerned but otherwise neutral. “Qrow and I…” He shook his head. “It’s been years, Glynda, and he looked at me like I was someone worth looking at.”

She smiled, soft. “And what about you? How did you look at him?”

James’ mind travelled back to last night again. To the way he’d kissed his way down Qrow’s body, to the way he’d tangled his fingers in Qrow’s hair. To the laughter and the gasps, to the groans and the keens. To the way his breath had caught when he’d finally got Qrow, flushed and grinning, underneath him.

James pressed his lips together. Everything started to slot into place. His mind spun, his heart beat fast, and his eyes grew wide. Every moment since this whole charade had started clicked.

“I…” James shook his head. “Glynda, I…” He looked up at her. “Am I gay?”

“He finally figures it out,” murmured Glynda. She nodded. “As far as I know, James. Did the gay sex tip you off?”

James’ mind was awash with Qrow. Qrow smiling; Qrow laughing; Qrow concerned; Qrow scared. All the different faces and angles of Qrow, a thousand moments spread through over a decade of friendship.

“James?” Glynda’s voice was distant.

James put down his coffee and rested his elbows on his knees, putting his head in his hands. More and more images. More and more moments. Everything clicking together until he felt like his heart and mind were going to explode.

“I’m in love with him,” whispered James. He looked up at Glynda, eyes wide and terrified. “Oh my god, I’m in love with him.”

Glynda nodded. “Yes, I believe you are,” she said. Her words were as soft as James had ever heard them. “So, what are you going to do about it?”

“I have no idea,” said James. “What should I do?”

“Considering you two slept together?” asked Glynda, tone dry. “I suggest you talk to him.”

James nodded, standing up. “Yes,” he said. “Yes, I can do that.” He looked from Glynda to the door. Remembered how he’d bolted that morning. “Glynda…”

“Go,” said Glynda, nodding to the door. “I’ll be here, mostly naked.” He nodded and ran out of the room, heading back to his and Qrow’s apartment.

* * *

 

Qrow transformed as he touched down on Ozpin’s office. Ozpin looked up from his desk, one eyebrow raised, and offered Qrow a warm smile. It faltered when Qrow’s own expression, one dim and frustrated, didn’t shift with the greeting.

“Lovely outfit,” commented Ozpin. “Is the weather really that cold?”

Qrow tugged at his collar, frowning. “It’s fine.” He looked back out the window, debating. This was a bad idea. This was a very, very bad idea. He didn’t want to talk about this. But he had to. If he didn’t it was going to consume him and leave him shouting and clawing at his own mind for relief.

“Did something happen?” asked Ozpin. “You seem… tense.”

Qrow narrowed his eyes. He leaned against Ozpin’s desk, arms folded across his chest, and scowled down at the other man. “Yeah, something happened.” He gritted his teeth, mind clouded with images of last night.

“Oh?” asked Ozpin.

Qrow’s scowl deepened. He swallowed hard, stomach churning. “Last night…” He trailed off, shaking his head. “I got drunk after I left your office.”

Ozpin raised a single eyebrow. “Did you now? I never would have guessed.” Qrow fought the urge to snarl. Only Ozpin could sound so serene and sarcastic at once.

“Yeah, and then I went and got Jim drunk and…” He shook his head. He tugged down the neck of his shirt, revealing the bruises and bite marks that littered his neck and collarbone.

Ozpin’s lips twitched. “Would it be presumptuous to assume those marks are in more… intimate places on your body?”

“What do you think?” snapped Qrow. “Last night…” He shook his head. “I thought he was into it. I thought he wasn’t that drunk, but now I don’t know.” He scrubbed his fingers through his hair, brushing his bangs back. “ _Fuck_ , Oz, what do I do?”

Ozpin leaned back in his chair. “I suppose that depends on several factors.”

“Yeah, and what would those be?” asked Qrow. He looked at the window, debating leaping again. He didn’t want to have this conversation.

“Firstly, do you believe both of you enjoyed the experience?” asked Ozpin. Ozpin’s gaze went to the now-hidden marks on Qrow’s neck and collarbone. “It would appear so to myself, but I’m not in the habit of making assumptions.”

Qrow growled. “Like hell you aren’t.” He scrubbed his hair again. “Look, I dunno. I…” He trailed off again. Remembered the way James had looked, above him. Remembered the way James had pressed into him, cold and metal and oh-so-right. “Yeah,” he said. “I… I liked it a lot.” Qrow bit his lip. He could remember the way James looked, when he’d first shucked his clothing and looked at Qrow.

He’d been beautiful. He’d been perfect.

And for one night, he’d been Qrow’s.

“And what of James?” asked Ozpin.

Qrow remembered. “I… think so.” James had been enthusiastic. Loud and passionate, laughing and grinning. His noises had blended with Qrow’s until both had reached a crescendo. “Yeah, he did.”

“So, I suppose the question remains, Qrow,” said Ozpin, folding his hands together, “what are you going to do now?”

Qrow dropped his head toward his chest. “I have no idea,” he mumbled.

“No?” asked Ozpin. “You don’t know how you feel about James?”

Qrow narrowed his eyes. He did. He’d known for quite a while how he felt about James. He’d just refused to admit it. And now that he had, and now that he and James had done something… whatever it was that was between them.

“Ozpin,” said Qrow, voice low with warning.

Ozpin spread his hands, that usual twinkle in his eye. “What?”

“You know what?” Qrow shoved himself completely upright and stalked over to the window. He braced one arm against the glass, his forehead resting on that arm. “I can’t do this. I can’t keep pretending this isn’t fucking up everything between us.” He closed his eyes. “We’ve been friends for years, Oz, and this? This destroyed everything in two months.”

Ozpin was silent.

“What the hell do I do now?” whispered Qrow to himself.

“You talk to him.” Ozpin’s hand rested on his shoulder as he spoke. Qrow could see Ozpin standing behind him in the window’s reflection. “James wouldn’t have agreed to last night if he didn’t feel similarly, Qrow. Avoiding this is only going to prolong the problem.”

Qrow shook his head, lips pressed together. “What if it ruins everything?”

“What if remaining silent does?” replied Ozpin. “Qrow, you’ll never know unless you try. Take a leap of faith.” Ozpin’s soft smile greeted him in the window. “I’ve heard they can end quite well.”

Qrow sighed. “Maybe,” he said. He pushed off the window, hands stuffed in his pockets, and headed for the elevator. “I’m gonna take a walk, Oz.” He lifted one hand in goodbye. “Later.”

“Good luck, my friend,” said Ozpin, his voice soft as Qrow left the office. Qrow watched the elevator doors close for the second time in two days. He sighed and slumped against the elevator wall.

He wasn’t going home for a while. He couldn’t handle it right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love!


	17. Once More, With Clarity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I did name this chapter after a trope. Ha.
> 
> Next chapter is the midpoint. Who's excited? Woo!
> 
> Also, I want it to be known that I love Ozpin. Ozpin is one of my favourite characters of all time.
> 
> I just also really love this plotline.

Qrow wasn’t in the apartment, nor was he in the training room, the cafeteria, Team RWBY’s dorm (he assured the girls there was nothing to worry about, and only started panicking again once out of sight), nor anywhere else that James could think of. That led him to Ozpin’s office, which was curiously empty despite the time of day.

Denying that he was trembling, James texted Glynda to let her know what was going on and where he was, leaving the unsaid “help” off the end of the message. Then, he dropped heavily into one of the chairs and put his head in his hands, fear racing up his spine. His heart beat fast and he tried to slow it. Where was Qrow? Why had he disappeared?

What had James done this time to upset him?

It wasn’t long before Glynda appeared in the office, coming out of the elevator in her usual get-up. Her hair was down, the only detail out of place on her otherwise immaculate form. Well, that and the bags under her eyes and the bruises no doubt hidden beneath her clothes.

“Glynda!” said James. He went to stand, but his vision swam and he dropped heavily back into the chair. Right. Hangover. James grimaced. His mouth tasted raw and sour.

Glynda took the chair next to him and turned it so that she faced him. She crossed one leg over the other and frowned. Her hands were folded in her lap.

“Do you know what happened? Where they might be?” His gaze went to Ozpin’s chair and to the window behind it. He frowned. Where was Ozpin? It wasn’t like him to be out of his office.

“James…” Glynda shook her head. She wouldn’t look at him. “I think it’s time I told you something about your marriage.” She licked her lips. “Something I don’t think you’re going to like.”

Tilting his head, James frowned. A headache pulsed between his eyes, slowly building with every passing minute. He grimaced and rubbed at his face. What on Remnant could Glynda mean by that? It was already a fake marriage. It was already a sham. Even if their – or at least, _his_ – feelings weren’t fake, the entire relationship was. That was what had caused all the drama to begin with.

What else was there?

Glynda sighed and stood. She was shaky on her legs, but she steadied herself faster than James could reach out to help her. She circled the desk, one hand pressed to the glass surface. James ignored that she was using it to hold herself upright. She seemed to ignore that he knew.

There were a few flickering lights as Glynda tapped at the desk. A screen appeared above the surface. Then another, then another. Half a dozen screens in total floated above the desk. With a flick of her wrist, the screens zipped out past James to hang in midair. They expanded outward until they were large enough to host a handful of images.

It took James a minute to realize what the images were. Once he did, horror crept down his spine, and he managed to stumble to his feet to stare at the screens. His headache grew, stabbing behind his eyes and blurring his vision for a moment. The images bled together and then solidified again.

There it was, in videos, snapshots, reports, and everything else under the sun: the progression of his and Qrow’s relationship, laid out in neat little rows for anyone to see.

“What the hell?” breathed James. His stomach churned. Pain pulsed behind his eyes. His vision spotted again. He grimaced against the horrid taste in his mouth and swallowed against the bile that rose in his throat. “What is all of this?” His voice was hoarse, he tried to ignore it.

“Exactly what you think,” said Glynda. James turned to look at her, his eyes wide and horror creeping across his entire body. It curled beneath his skin and slithered down his arms and legs into his hands and feet. It crept up his spine and curled itself around his head, warping his thoughts. “Ozpin’s been tracking all of it.”

James shook his head. “How long have you known?”

“A month, maybe two,” said Glynda. “He’s been planning this, James.” She still wouldn’t look at him. “Playing matchmaker in the background, lining up things just so.” She shook her head, and James saw his own horror mirrored on her face.

“Glynda,” he bit out. “What has he done?”

“Within minutes of the two of you returning to Beacon, the first questions about your relationship arose,” said Glynda. Her hands were clenched against the glass desk. She stared down at them, shoulders trembling. “He waited. He purposely waited until it was too late to do anything but go along with it before he contacted Qrow and yourself.” She looked up at James. “He organized the ball, sent Ruby and Yang after Qrow, even had a few other students be in the right place at the right time.”

James stumbled backward. He caught the edge of a chair and hung on tight, knuckles white against the metal. “No.” Neon and Flynt. Had he told them too? Had he played them without them even knowing? What about Weiss and Neptune at the ball? Their song and dance?

“Yes,” said Glynda. “Ozpin’s been making this masquerade shift more and more intimate from the start.” Her lip trembled. “I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you any of this. I didn’t think you’d believe me.”

He didn’t want to. He truly, deeply, did not want to believe what Glynda was saying. But Ozpin was a puppet master, and he had been as long as James had known him. From simple things, like organizing teams the way he wanted them, to bigger things, like removing someone from the Vale council, four years ago, Ozpin had always been a master at getting what he wanted without anyone being the wiser.

Why shouldn’t he do such things to his own friends?

But then, James had thought that he – that they – were the exception to the rule. That Ozpin would never try to manipulate he, Qrow, or Glynda. That Ozpin had some kind of limit – some kind of conscience – that told him when to stop.

“Was it all a lie, then?” asked James. His voice cracked as he spoke. “Was everything between Qrow and I a lie?”

“I don’t know,” said Glynda. She shook her head. “Anything that happened alone – that was real. I swear to you, that had to be real.”

But what if Ozpin had gone to Qrow? What if Ozpin had been manipulating them both without them either noticing? What if Qrow had known? What if he had been playing James this entire time as well?

The drinking. The cursing. The fight with Winter. And last night. That had to be real, didn’t it?

…Didn’t it?

“No,” said James. He ran a hand through his hair. “No, this isn’t possible.” Were his feelings even real then, or had they been manipulated by Ozpin as well? How well could he trust himself, if he’d been in contact with Ozpin this entire time? He’d seen Ozpin tear someone’s mind apart with a few well-placed chess metaphors and manipulating their day planner. It wasn’t beyond him to do something to James. Or Qrow. Or both.

But _why._

“James.” Glynda’s voice was firm but faraway. He could feel himself floundering. Feel the way he drifted away from it all. “James!”

The elevator door opened. Ozpin stepped into the room.

And James saw red.

“Glynda, leave.” There was no room for argument in James’ voice.

It wasn’t in her nature to obey, but she did. Whether from fear, or from exhaustion, or simply because she didn’t want to see, or be responsible for, what happened next, James couldn’t say. All he knew was that in less than thirty seconds, he and Ozpin were alone.

“James, how are you?” asked Ozpin. “Rough night?” The smooth casualness to his tone made James snarl.

“What the _hell_ is your problem?” snapped James. “Toying with people’s emotions? Sending them on wild chases for nothing!” He threw out one arm and saw Ozpin’s gaze follow it. “Just who the hell do you think you are?”

Ozpin cleared his throat, and James didn’t think their two-inch height difference had ever been more pronounced. He loomed over Ozpin, every inch of him trembling with rage.

“You manipulated us. You made us think things. How much of myself can I even _trust_ , Ozpin?” said James. His voice rose as he spoke, a roar in the silence of the office. The gears spun above them, tossing shadows across them both. “Why would you _ever_ think this was acceptable?”

“I was only trying to help,” said Ozpin. The usual serene quality to his voice wavered as he glanced up at James. He swallowed visibly. James started forward, drove Ozpin back with narrowed eyes and encroaching steps until Ozpin bumped into the wall behind him.

“How much of it was a lie, Oz?” asked James, his voice as low and as dangerous as he’d ever managed around the other man. “How much of Qrow and I is just some scheme of yours?”

Ozpin faltered, mouth opening and closing like a gap-mouthed fish. He said nothing for a minute, simply stared at James from behind those damned, useless glasses of his.

“I’m sorry?” It was more question than statement and James hated him for it. He wasn’t sorry. James didn’t think Ozpin knew the meaning of the word. More and more, he wondered if Ozpin even understood the concept of remorse.

“Why?” asked James. He planted his covered metal hand on the wall next to Ozpin’s head. His other hand was clenched at his side and he forced himself not to reach out. Not to shake Ozpin until he had answers.

He deserved it.

“It worked out, did it not? You both care for each other,” said Ozpin. His voice was quivering as he spoke. “I’d say this was a successful operation.”

“Oper…” James cut himself off before he started screaming. Forced himself to take a deep breath and let it out slowly before he spoke again. “I care about Qrow,” said James, tightly. “But I have no idea how he feels, nor where he _is_ right now.”

Ozpin frowned. “He’s not in your apartment?”

James growled. “What do you know that I don’t?” He brought his other hand up and fisted Ozpin’s damned jacket with it. “What have you been telling Qrow?” How much of this was a lie? How much had been Qrow’s acting? Had last night…

He shook his head. He needed answers.

He was _tired._ He was _scared._ And now maybe all of this had been for naught.

“Ozpin,” said James, “how much of Qrow is because of you?”

Ozpin looked away. “I never… directly influenced either of you,” he said, slowly. James shifted and he knew Ozpin was up on his toes from James’ hold on his jacket. “I never told you what was going on, I never pushed you in a specific direction _directly._ I simply… lined up the pieces so that you’d fall into each other.”

James gritted his teeth. He pressed his hand harder into the wall and ignored the way his stomach and head churned and pounded intermittently. “So you don’t know.”

“No, I don’t,” said Ozpin. He wouldn’t look at James.

“You’re useless,” said James. He shoved off the wall and stalked back toward the chairs, planting his hands on one of them and staring out the window. “You may be the most arrogant, self-absorbed, _hypocritical_ bastard I’ve ever met, you know that?”

“James…”

“Save it,” snapped James. He shook his head and turned around to look back at Ozpin. “You claim that you’re trying to help the world, Oz. That you’re trying to remove corruption and let the good shine forth. But you are just as egotistic and self-assured as any one of the people you try and remove from power. If you ever took a step back and looked at yourself, you’d know that.” James scoffed and headed for the elevator. “But I guess that’s the great thing about ivory towers, isn’t it? No reflections.”

With a razor-sharp snarl, James stepped into the elevator and stabbed the button for the bottom floor.

When the door closed, he rested his forehead against the wall and took a few shaky breaths, all the anger bleeding out of him at once.

_Fuck._

“Damn it,” hissed James, eyes burning. Where was Qrow? What was he thinking? How much of this was a lie? He just didn’t know anymore.

He needed to talk to Qrow, presuming he could even _find_ him, that was.

* * *

 

Minutes after James left, Ozpin was sitting in his chair, turned toward the window, lips pressed tight together and hands steepled in front of him. Thoughts swirled behind his eyes, dancing across his mind and leaving him frowning tightly as he tried to think of what to do next.

The soft noise of the elevator door opening drew his attention. He glanced at the reflection in the glass and saw Glynda. Her hair was up, though imperfect, and she looked ten years older than she was. Granted, comas did that to people. He’d had enough experience with them.

“Ozpin.” Her voice and posture gave away nothing. Perfectly cool and perfectly neutral.

“I’m glad to see you’re awake,” murmured Ozpin. He still didn’t turn around. “Tell me, how are you?”

“Better than James and Qrow.”

Ah. He’d wondered how much she’d known. James and Glynda’s friendship was an old one, despite James’ failed flirtations. They were close, obviously closer than Ozpin had known if she’d been talking to James this morning.

He still knew that Glynda and Qrow didn’t get along well, but he suspected that that would change soon as well.

“He thinks I overstepped,” said Ozpin. His voice was carefully absent as he studied the city of Vale from beyond his window.

“You did,” said Glynda. There was something approaching sharp in her voice. Not quite there, but building all the same.

“Yes, I think I did,” said Ozpin.

Glynda snorted, the gesture sharp and decidedly unlike herself. “What was your first clue?” she snapped. “When you played two grown men into each other’s hands like puppets? When you saw the media’s reaction to the tension between Qrow and Winter?” Ozpin flinched as Glynda’s hand slammed down onto his desk. “Or was it when Qrow and James finally became upset when the tension between them broke, and you did nothing but try to keep playing them?” Her voice rose to a shout at the end and Ozpin cringed slightly.

He turned in his chair to look at Glynda, who was red and snarling. Hatred burned in her eyes until Ozpin couldn’t meet them.

“I’m going back to bed,” said Glynda. “When I wake up, you better have an apology ready. You fucked up, Ozpin, own up to it, fix it, move on.” She turned and stalked toward the elevator. “Or else you might be looking for a new set of friends and a new vice-headmistress.”

And then she was gone.

Ozpin sighed and turned back toward the window, mind blank and body weary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love! Feel free to come talk to me on [Tumblr!](http://anipendragon.tumblr.com/)


	18. Caged

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter! But for good reason, I assure you.
> 
> Did I mention this is the midpoint? Woo!

James ended up in the private staff gym at Beacon after his argument with Ozpin. He needed to work off some steam, and considering his hangover, going after Grimm probably wasn’t the best idea. So he stripped down to his undershirt and his pants, ditched the rest of his clothing on the side of the room, and went to town on a punching bag that was hanging from the ceiling.

He fell into a steady rhythm. One fist, then the other, hard and fast as he beat the bag relentlessly. It rocked and squeaked, swinging backward wildly before it swung back toward James. He hauled off and slammed into the bag again. The chain creaked. Again. The chain creaked further.

Images flashed behind his eyes as he worked. Qrow, beneath him, flushed and wanting. Laughter drifted in his ears. Glynda’s words echoed across it. The screens. Ozpin. How much was a lie?

The chain broke. The bag flew back and slammed into the wall, cracking it.

James swore and stumbled, falling to his knees on his own momentum. He planted his hands on the cool wooden floor and let out a low curse. His eyes prickled and his vision blurred, mixing the silver of his metal hand with the wooden floor with the flesh of his left hand.

Ozpin. Qrow. Glynda. How much was a lie? Could he trust his own feelings, or had they been manipulated as well? How much of himself could he trust?

“James?”

“General?”

Two voices, both incredibly different but often heard together. James shifted back to a sitting position and looked up to see Dr. Oobleck and Professor Port in the doorway. He offered them a tiny smile that didn’t touch his eyes. It was all he had. It wasn’t enough. Immediately they were crossing the room to him and crouching down on the floor on either side of him.

“Are you all right?” asked Bart, his head tilted down slightly and his glasses sliding down his face. Even sitting, Bart was taller than him. An accomplishment, considering his long legs.

“Fine,” murmured James, but he knew his voice betrayed his thoughts. Doubts and fears that swirled around his mind and left his voice soft and barely there.

Glynda. Ozpin. Qrow. Taurus. The arena. Images flashed behind his eyes as doubt crept up his throat and threatened to choke him. Could he trust himself? Or had Ozpin changed his very emotions? He wanted the man to apologize. To stop. Maybe just to leave.

He wasn’t sure if he’d ever trust Ozpin again.

“You seem troubled, my friend,” said Peter. Soft, rumbling words. Peter always had a habit of bringing people back to themselves. His stories were as much a distraction for him as for others. They worked well at both. One of the things he was grateful for, when it came to his friendship with Peter. “Burdens can often be lifted by talking about them.”

James sighed and pushed himself to his feet. He was overexposed here, with his undershirt and his pants and nothing else. His metal foot and metal arm and shoulder were visible, as well as some area across his collarbone. He didn’t like it. He picked up his button-up and slid it back on, buttoning it with shaking fingers. Methodically reclaimed his clothes with his back to the men in the room.

He didn’t look back at the two men, who had also stood up, until he was fully dressed again. They were standing again, as well as staring. James didn’t understand why until he shifted and felt one of the scratch marks brush the inside of his shirt.

His cheeks went scarlet. _Oh._ They had seen those, then. Of course they had. Probably had when they first entered the room. But it wasn’t until James put his back to them that they’d truly seen the extent. Qrow had been rough. At the time, James hadn’t minded.

Now? He didn’t know.

Peter cleared his throat and looked away, rubbing at his mustache with the side of one finger. Bart raised an eyebrow and pushed up his glasses.

“I see you two are keeping busy,” murmured Bart.

“Barty!” Peter’s scandalized voice matched James’ expression. “That was inappropriate.”

Bart shrugged, slight and casual. “What? The two of them have obviously been fighting. It’s comforting to know that the two are still communicating, even if only in moans and claw marks, my dear Peter.”

James put one hand to the side of his face and sighed. “Well, you’re not wrong,” he muttered. He didn’t want to do this. Not now, not ever. “If we’re going to talk, I suggest we do so elsewhere.” At least that would give him a minute to recover.

James pushed passed them without a word and headed down to the staff common room. He wanted a drink. God, he _needed_ a drink.

And suddenly he was starting to understand how Qrow felt. Drinking until he couldn’t think straight was starting to sound incredibly tempting.

It wasn’t until he had poured himself a cup of coffee in the common room that Bart and Peter caught up with him. He held it close to his chest, his arms folded over himself in some half-conscious attempt to shield himself from their eyes and their words.

“We just wanted to check in on you,” said Peter, softly. “You seemed low, my friend, it’s not like you.”

James sighed and said nothing. He wasn’t sure what he could say without giving away the entire charade. And even if he did enjoy Bart and Peter’s company, and even if he knew them decently – well enough at least to know the look they shared, half concerned, half “you do it” – he didn’t know if they should – or could – be trusted with this charade.

“You’ve been visibly upset since the events at the arena,” said Bart. He leaned against the wall next to the door, frowning as he fiddled with his thermos. Where had that come from, James wondered. But then, Bart had a habit of vanishing and reappearing in the blink of an eye. “I can understand why, of course, but I assure you, James, the events at the arena were not your fault. If not for your men, they would have ended quite badly. You saved a lot of people.”

James nodded. The arena had been a tragedy carefully averted and he was grateful for it. If not for his men, people would have died that day, and he had been careful to send his thanks to as many as possible personally, and send general thank-yous to the rest of his troops.

They still didn’t know what had happened with Adam Taurus, or the White Fang, or why they had dropped the arena. Nor had he thought to ask Glynda if she’d seen anything. He’d been too distracted by his own, personal, problems.

Which was frustrating unto itself. He was a general, a man grown, and someone with great responsibility. To be distracted by his own damned love life was… laughable at best.

“Is it Qrow?” asked Bart, breaking through his thoughts. James met the other man’s gaze from behind his glasses. “The two of you seem… tense. I thought there might be something afoot.”

James swallowed. That was a bit close to home. “We’ve been better,” said James, softly. He set down his coffee. He needed to get out of here. These men were his friends, but they weren’t his confidants, and in his current mental state, he’d end up saying too much. “I should go find him.”

“Probably for the best,” agreed Bart. He and Peter stepped aside as James left the room again. They obviously wanted to talk to him, and James had been fine with talking only minutes ago. But now, as his worries about Qrow’s whereabouts grew, he didn’t know what to say.

Between Taurus, the arena, Qrow, and now Ozpin, the last two weeks had left him feeling scrapped raw and exposed.

Maybe he should just go back to bed, he thought, walking down the hall. At least then he didn’t have to worry about anything.

* * *

 

Maybe drinking again hadn’t been his best decision, but it was the only one that Qrow had. He hadn’t cared what he’d gotten, just gone straight for the highest alcohol content and downed it as fast as he could once he’d gotten clear of the store. It burned all the way down. He’d liked it as much as he’d hated it.

Now, he stumbled through an old grove at the edge of Vale, empty bottle falling to the ground and his world swaying as he walked. He sat down hard on one of the stone benches, scowling at the dancing stone tiles on the ground. Why were they dancing? Didn’t they know everything had gone to _shit?_

He’d fallen for James. Gotten James drunk. Dragged him into bed. He didn’t know if James had even _wanted_ to sleep with him, and then James had run off and Qrow had gone to Ozpin. He always went to Ozpin. But Ozpin hadn’t been useful in the least this fucking time. Had he ever? Qrow didn’t know. He didn’t know much of anything anymore. Except that he was a massive fuck-up.

God, he was such a mess. He put his head in his hands and grimaced at the sour taste in his mouth. What was he supposed to do now? He couldn’t go back. Didn’t really want to. Didn’t want to face James. The sighs. The words. The rejection.

He couldn’t take the rejection. Not today. Not tomorrow. Maybe not ever. Maybe if he just never went back he’d never have to hear those words. He’d never have to know how much James hated him now. James could claim he was a widow. That Qrow had taken off into the night and gotten himself killed in some stupid show of bravado against the Grimm.

It probably wouldn’t be far from the truth, sooner or later. Sooner still, if he didn’t stop drinking.

Which he wouldn’t.

He needed it. He always needed it.

Qrow swallowed against the bitter taste in his mouth. The world swayed slightly as he tilted his head. He squinted as it stopped, but it started up again.

Fuck, he needed more. He could still think clear enough to hate himself. Obviously he hadn’t drunk something strong enough. Damn bottles. False advertising or something like it. Qrow didn’t. Like it, that was. God, he just wanted to curl up into a ball and stop existing for a while. He’d done enough to destroy half the relationships he had in the last twenty-four hours.

Snarled at Ozpin. Seduced James. And how would Yang and Ruby react when they found out all this was a farce? If he never went back? He had to go back, for them. But he couldn’t.

For once, just once, he wanted to be selfish. But could he even drive himself to do it?

No. But then, he never could.

_Fuck._

Shuffling in the high grass to Qrow’s left. He wondered if he was imagining it. Wondered if maybe it was just another product of shitty alcohol that hadn’t done its job well enough. Wondered if it was just his fears and his anger making themselves corporeal in the shadowed grove surrounding Qrow.

A figure stepped out of the shadows. Another to the right. Sensed a couple behind him. All dressed in white and black and red. He squinted. Couldn’t make his brain process who they were. But he knew. He always knew. That was what he did. Know.

In front of him a man in black and red appeared and Qrow didn’t have to be sober to know who he was.

“Adam Taurus,” said Qrow, aware of the slur in his voice.

Taurus smirked. “Branwen. You look pathetic as always.”

Qrow snorted. “Like you look so much better,” he said. He grimaced at Taurus’ ridiculous get-up. The outfit, the shoes, the damned _mask._ Honestly he reminded Qrow more of… He stopped those thoughts short.

No, best not to think of her, right now.

“At least I’m put together. You look like nothing more than a pathetic, besotted fool, hidden here, so far away from everyone else,” said Taurus. He tilted his head, one hand on his sword. “You know why I’m here.”

“Yeah,” said Qrow. He snorted again. “It’s kind of my curse.”

“Are you going to fight back?” asked Taurus. Qrow reached behind him, only to pale when he realized his sword wasn’t there.

Oh no.

No, no, no, no, no. He must have left it back at the apartment. He was wearing a _turtleneck_ , not his usual cape and shirt. Of _course_ he didn’t have it. And of course he hadn’t realized.

Shit.

Qrow leaped into the air just as Taurus drew his sword. Qrow clumsily front-flipped over the man. He touched down on the ground, stumbled, and darted for the tree line. But Taurus had company and Qrow couldn’t walk straight. The other White Fang members were quick to surround Qrow.

He growled, fists up, and went for the smallest of the four.

Fist across the guy’s jaw, then a boot to the chest. He flew backward as Qrow turned, blocked a kick, and grabbed the leg. Swung him around into a White Fang woman. She yelped. They both went down. Something pricked Qrow’s neck and he swore, turning. Hand on his neck. He couldn’t feel anything there.

The smallest of the four was up again and holding a blow dart.

Qrow swore again, shifting backward on his feet. He needed to get out of here. He needed to fly. Was it worth it for them to know? They’d assume it was a semblance. Everyone always did. Even James. Qrow grimaced.

The world swayed. It wasn’t from alcohol. Qrow made his choice.

He got a running start and leaped into mid-air, transforming as he went. Wings spread and beak open in a shriek, Qrow tore for the skies.

He barely made it twenty feet before he swayed, another prick catching him in the belly. Then another. Then another. His wings faltered. His body shuddered, and Qrow fell back to the ground, landing neatly in Adam Taurus’ hands.

“Nicely done, Perry,” said Taurus. Taurus’ chuckle surrounded Qrow, cloaking him in foul tasting darkness. “Sleep well, little bird.” Qrow’s mind flashed at the words. Taiyang, laughing. The girls, shrieking in delight. James, smiling at him when they woke up in the mornings. All of it danced around Qrow until he couldn’t be sure what was real and what was illusion. “When you wake up, we’re going to have a nice chat.”

And then Qrow was gone, falling and falling into the confines of his own, pathetic mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love!


	19. Missing in Action

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are getting serious here at Beacon Academy. Hoping to keep updates regular. Summer and I don't get along.

James awoke from his nap to the washed-out colours of a fading sunset throwing staggering, exaggerated shadows across his room. He squinted at the digital clock, its green letters glowing more neon that the strange tint of Ozpin’s office.

He’d slept – if the dream-filled tossing and turning that haunted him even as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes counted – for almost four hours. Long past enough for Qrow to come sauntering back into the apartment, or else slouching and stumbling in a drunken stupor.

But when James stepped into the small living area of his – theirs. His? – quarters, Qrow was nowhere to be seen. The glasses from the previous night sat on the coffee table, having long since worn condensation rings into the table. They stared at him, mockingly, drawing up memories from last night. Warm and languid memories touched by laughter and culmination of something long coming, but tainted by fear and frustration.

He should never have run out on Qrow that morning.

He should never have left him to stew. Never should have let those fears fester into something toxic and enormous. He knew Qrow. He’d known Qrow would panic and assume the worst, somewhere in the back of his mind, but he’d left anyway. Left because he hadn’t known what to expect. Left because he’d been terrified and anxious. Left because he hadn’t known what else to do.

Now, less than twelve hours later, it had all backfired on him in spectacular function.

Selfishness had never suited him. Whenever he dared venture to anything close, it always destroyed other people. Left them floundering and scrambling in some desperate effort to stay afloat while he rowed back to shore safely.

If there was anything to be learned in this whole endeavour, it was that James needed to think more before he acted and stop putting himself first in any situation.

James sat down hard on the couch, his head in his hands and his elbows on his knees. The glasses stared up at him, judging his inaction. He should have been out looking for Qrow. He should have been doing something. But all he wanted to do was curl back into a ball, draw the blankets over his head, and sleep until this had all blown over.

Taurus. The White Fang. The arena. The sham marriage. Now this. His friendship destroyed, his frustration at himself mounting, and every tiny, nagging doubt driving itself under his skin until he felt like he might suffocate from his thoughts alone.

A distant ringing echoed through the apartment, emphasizing its emptiness. James stared at the blank walls and the carefully decorated interior. It was impersonal, sterile, with only the empty glasses and empty bottle on the coffee table marking that anyone lived here at all.

It was a guest apartment. It shouldn’t have bothered him. But the fact was, his apartment back in Atlas looked almost the exact same. Sterile. Empty. A display of wealth and status instead of a home to live in. Only Qrow had changed that here – his cape over the back of a chair, his flask perched in increasingly odd places, his feet on the coffee table and his warm, rough laughter filling the room until it pushed outward on the windows.

And now it was gone. The cape, the flask, the voice, the man himself. All gone. And all his fault.

The ringing started again, this time registering as his scroll. James shoved himself to his feet, head spinning with what ifs and memories and doubts, and stumbled back to the bedroom. Slumped onto the bed and answered his scroll with a soft sigh.

“Yeah?”

A flicker on the screen. Glynda’s face and voice appearing as one, brow knitted and voice tight. “James. We have a problem.”

There were a lot of problems to be had, it seemed. She’d have to be more specific.

“What’s going on?” asked James.

The digital clock clicked over to the next minute. The room was half cloaked in darkness and further cloaked in fear and silence. Both hung around James like a blanket, tight and suffocating as he wondered what had happened while he’d slept.

Last time something had happened while he’d slept, this entire mess had started.

Distantly, some part of him wondered if perhaps sleeping was the problem. If he never slept, if he never let his guard down, then nothing could take him by surprise. Then, there would be no more fake marriages, no more terrorist attacks, and no more ruined friendships.

Or perhaps that was simply wishful thinking on his part.

“There’s reports of White Fang activity all throughout the edges of Vale,” said Glynda. She blew a piece of hair from her face and scowled at him, brow pulled together and pulse point jumping in her neck. “So far we’ve had four attacks – all on civilians. Police are handling it as best they can, as are some of your soldiers, but we’ve yet to figure out why they’re doing this.”

James straightened slightly, still hunched over the scroll and with bleary eyes, but alertness returning to him. “You have authority on my androids, send them if need be.” He glanced over his shoulder and out the window – toward Vale, toward the chaos. “Do you need me down there?”

“…I have authority on the androids?” asked Glynda. The cock of her head and the shifting in the furrow of her brow – concern to confusion – returned James’ attention to the scroll.

“Of course, you’re a co-administrator.” James rolled his shoulders, trying to ease the kink that was working its way up his spine and into his right shoulder, just to the left of where his prosthetics attached to flesh and bone.

For a moment, it seemed Glynda wanted to question him further about that comment, but she appeared to let it slide. “Have you seen Qrow yet?”

“No,” said James. “And I fear for the worst, knowing him.”

A sigh over the scroll. “He’s probably out drinking.”

A cold shiver went down James’ spine. Drinking. White Fang. Vale. “Oh no.”

“What?”

James stood quickly, already looking around for his jacket and vest. Where had he discarded them, earlier? “If Qrow is drinking, then he’s off balance, and I know his sword is still here.” It was in the kitchen, against the fridge. The only personal touch to a sterile room. The drawers containing Qrow’s clothes were suspiciously closed. He’d grabbed something clean but hadn’t left a mess.

Unless he was the mess, in this scenario. “Taurus wants him, and he’ll do anything to find him,” said James.

A curse. “Meet me out front, in the courtyard.” Glynda’s voice was hard. “We’re going to find him. Now.” With a nod, James hung up, slipped on his jacket and glove, and headed outside.

_Please be okay._

* * *

 

As the shadows grew long and the night sky sparkled with the handful of stars that could form against the city lights, James hurried down to the courtyard to speak with Glynda. She stood in its centre, illuminated by the street lamps that cast their eerie white-blue glow onto the stones and pathways. James preferred the grey washed lights of Atlas, they seemed less intimidating than these.

“How are the police? The military?” asked James. A stray strand of hair hung in his face and James blew it back, scowling. No product for his hair. No time to comb it back. He’d ensured that he was covered, but hadn’t bothered with appearances beyond that. There’d been no time. There were more important things to cover.

“Handling things. I have the androids down in the streets.” Glynda looked over her shoulder toward the city, and James saw the shift in her shoulders as she tensed. The tight clench of her jaw and the pinch of her brow betrayed her worry, despite the levelness of her voice. “The White Fang is retreating. We have a couple of them in custody, but nothing concrete.”

“And Qrow?” James was almost afraid to ask.

Glynda shook her head. Her eyes were shadowed and exhausted, even if her stance was tense and her voice was level. “No sign of him. We have people scouring the streets for him while they look for the White Fang, but nothing yet.”

“All right,” said James. “Casualties? Injuries?” He started toward one of the ships, striding with purpose. Glynda followed after, the click-clack of her heels and the uneven thumps of his own gait were the only sounds.

“Fifteen injured, none in critical condition, no casualties, no missing persons,” said Glynda. Her expression faltered, lips tugging into a sharp frown. “I just don’t understand why he’d organize this kind of attack. Surely, there had to be a purpose.”

There had to be, but James wasn’t sure what it was. Wasn’t sure if anything Taurus did lately made sense, or if it was just some kind of ploy to flush them out. Qrow had said Taurus and Torchwick were in some kind of turf war, but that couldn’t have anything to do with this, could it?

As he and Glynda stepped into the ship, both were silent. James was caught up in his own thoughts, swirling ideas of what could have possibly happened to cause the White Fang to make such a bold move. Glynda was right, surely this had a purpose, but James couldn’t fathom what that purpose could be.

The ship flew over the darkened streets of Vale, illuminated only by street lamps and the mostly shattered moon. The lights of various windows blinked in and out of existence, their yellow glow there and gone again in an instant.

The ship touched down in the shipping yard, where other members of the Beacon Academy staff were already waiting for them. Bart and Peter stood together, the light of the lamps illuminated Bart’s glasses, turning them opaque even from a distance. Peach was there as well, her plump figure wrapped in soft pastels as she paced back and forth between shipping crates. James wondered where Ozpin was.

James wondered if he even cared.

“Most of the White Fang is gone again,” said Peter, once James and Glynda were within earshot. “We have a few of them in custody with the police, but we aren’t sure if they’ll talk.”

Glynda snorted, loudly. “Oh, with the day I’ve had? I’ll make them talk.”

James glanced at Glynda out of the corner of his eye. He wasn’t sure if he felt sorry for the White Fang members or not.

No one deserved Glynda’s questioning tactics when she was in this kind of state.

“Have we managed to track down the source of the attack? The purpose?” asked James.

Bart shook his head. “Nothing yet. We haven’t determined anything about the attack, we’ve simply managed to force them back into hiding.” He looked over his shoulder, back toward the city streets and toward a handful of police officers that waited, chatting quietly amongst themselves. “I’m not sure what to do next.”

“Find Qrow,” said James, firmly. “You can cover the most ground in the least amount of time. Take Peach with you.” He turned his attention to Glynda and Peter. “Glynda, go interrogate the captured members, and _try_ not to kill them.” A pause. “Or permanently maim them.”

Glynda nodded and marched off toward the police officers, heels clicking as she walked.

“Peter, you’re with me, we’ll be looking for straggling members of the White Fang and anyone else who was affected tonight. We’ll take down names and help out when necessary. Are the injured at the hospital?” Nods. “Good, good. Everyone understand their roles?” More nods all around. “Then let’s get to work.”

He and Peter headed for the main streets of Vale, scrolls out and eyes peeled for anyone who needed help. James’ gun was a heavy weight at his side. He’d never liked using it on people – even criminals – but he worried he’d have to before the night was over.

The walk was largely silent as the two men swept the streets for criminals and victims. There were no sounds, no movements, nothing. It was as though the streets were slumbering in the shadows, waiting for the sunlight before they returned to the waking world.

James didn’t like it. This kind of silence only came after panic. Panic that shouldn’t have happened. Panic he should have prevented.

First the marriage, then the arena, now this.

His failure was the only constant Vale seemed to know anymore.

He needed a drink.

“Rough night?” Peter’s words pulled James from his thoughts and he turned his attention to the other man. “You seem distracted.”

James hesitated for a fraction too long. Saw the way Peter raised an eyebrow at him. “Worried,” James admitted. He sighed, feeling the tug in his shoulder. The pain was returning; the way it always did when he was tense. “There’s a lot going on.”

“Indeed,” said Peter. His voice was a low rumble at James’ side. “But you cannot blame yourself for everything going on, James. After all, you’re only human. You can’t be expected to save everyone.”

“I should be able to,” muttered James. He combed his fingers back through his hair, a gesture that felt more Qrow than his own.

A lot of things felt more like Qrow than his own recently.

“The silence isn’t right,” said James. “After an attack like this, we should have more panic, more police in the streets.” He shook his head, ignoring the look Peter was giving him. Sudden subject changes had never been his strong point.

“Everyone is scared of the White Fang monsters and their attacks. No amount of daring heroes can change that fear,” said Peter.

James sighed, soft and frustrated. He forced himself not to comb his fingers back through his hair again. The gesture wouldn’t have looked right. Nothing much looked right anymore.

Fear. Terror. Panic.

It all brought the Grimm.

Was that why Taurus was doing this? To bring the Grimm? To sow panic? He didn’t know. There were more questions than there were answers at this point, and every moment brought more questions without answering any of those behind them.

Peter and James traveled through the city in almost-silence. They scoured the streets, searched the alleyways, and squinted into the darkness. They found nothing. That was most concerning of all. For all the terror and panic the White Fang had sowed in the streets, there was nothing to show for it but silence. Silence and fear.

That was the worst part.

There was nothing physical about this attack beyond the handful of injured at the hospital. Nothing purposeful to it that could be washed away or patched up. Fear was deep. Fear was cutting.

Fear wasn’t erasable.

James’ scroll rang amidst their silent searching and he startled, coming back to the physical world and out of his spiralling thoughts.

Bart was calling.

“We found something,” he said. And James was already headed to his last location, Peter close behind.

The coordinates took James to a courtyard amidst a group of trees, a single bench at its centre. Bart and Peach were there, both of them looking rather lost. It took James a moment to realize why.

In Bart’s hands, cracked but distinctive, was Qrow’s scroll.

“Oh no,” breathed James. His gaze swung around the courtyard. Signs of a struggle. Marks where people had come through the trees. A bright scar on the ground and on the bench. James nudged Bart and Peach aside to check the bench.

The White Fang symbol carved into the back.

“I suspect the White Fang’s purpose tonight was here,” said Bart. He shifted the broken scroll from one hand to the other.

James laid his hand on the scorched and carved symbol in the bench and curled his fingers tight enough that he felt the metal warp the wood.

“We’re going to find Taurus.” There was no room for argument in his hard voice. “And we’re going to stop the White Fang once and for all.”

* * *

 

It was late, but Ruby couldn’t sleep. She knew the teachers were out in the city, helping the police. She knew the White Fang had attacked the city. Knew the Grimm in the forests were probably rumbling, waiting for the right time to strike.

It scared her.

Everyone else in the dorm was asleep. Weiss’ soft whispering breaths, Yang’s snores, and Blake’s occasional snuffles were proof of that. It was nice to have Yang back in the dorm, even if she was still healing.

Aura piercing semblance. Ruby hadn’t known one existed, but she guessed it made sense that a guy like Adam Taurus would have one.

She wondered if Blake would every forgive herself for everything that had happened in the arena.

With a sigh, Ruby rolled over, grabbed her scroll, and swung off the bed. She padded out of the dorm room and shut the door behind her, already tapping the first favourite on her call list as she leaned against the wall next to the door.

It was three in the morning. The call picked up.

“Dad?” The sniffle in her voice had it quivering. “Can you come to Beacon? I’m scared.”

A moment of silence. Then, “I’ll be right there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love!


	20. Protective Instincts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taiyang comes to town. We find out what happened to Qrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A couple days late, but here nonetheless.
> 
> Um. Enjoy?

The gears spun slowly above the desk and chair, throwing shadows across the office as early morning sunlight streamed in through the windows. The noise from them was faint; a click, a clack, a slight grind. Some of them needed to be maintained, it seemed.

Ozpin had gotten lazy.

With a sigh, Taiyang leaned back in the office chair, staring up at the ceiling as he waited for Ozpin to come up to his office. A thousand thoughts spun behind Taiyang’s eyes, churning with the slow slurp and gurgle of his stomach. He grimaced, the taste in his mouth bitter, and focused on the spinning gears. It was easier to focus on them rather than the out of control spiral of his thoughts.

Qrow was missing. Ruby was scared. Vale was in trouble. The arena had dropped.

And Taiyang had gone on a simple search and rescue mission the day the tournament started in some desperate attempt to regain his control of his life, his emotions, and his own head.

Or at least, that’s what he told himself. And it had nothing to do with the rumours of a masked figure in the area with a strange sword.

Nothing at all.

The elevator hummed to life, signalling the coming of Ozpin. It had to be him. Glynda was off in the city, working to find out how the White Fang had gotten in so quickly, and James was probably scouring the city for new leads. Or else they were still asleep. It was just after six in the morning, after all.

That left only Ozpin.

Honestly, the man should have known better than to travel alone. It didn’t usually work out for him. Besides, Ozpin always looked so small, so vulnerable, without Glynda by his side like some highly trained bodyguard. Taiyang had to wonder if Ozpin even knew how to fight. He was a huntsman, but there was a difference between being a retired huntsman and headmaster and being an active fighter.

Taiyang hoped he wouldn’t have to test that difference.

With a soft ding, the elevator doors slid open, and Ozpin strode into the room. It took him exactly three limping, leaning steps to see Taiyang, and Taiyang couldn’t help the smug pleasure that spread through him when he saw how Ozpin went rigid at his presence.

“Taiyang.” The confusion in Ozpin’s voice hung between them. He furrowed his brow, head tilting slightly. “A pleasure, as always.” It didn’t sound like a pleasure. It sounded like fear. Taiyang couldn’t help but be a bit glad.

Taiyang swallowed down his first instinct – shouting. He never much liked shouting. Never shouted at the girls or at Qrow, even when he was at his worst. No, shouting never got anywhere. Just led to shaking hands and pounding hearts – most of them his own.

Instead, he kept his voice level and his gaze passive, propping his elbows on the desk the same way Ozpin always did. “You’ve gotten sloppy, Ozpin.”

What little looseness in Ozpin’s body vanished as he went rigid again. Ozpin swallowed hard and looked away, hand around his coffee mug white-knuckle tight. “I’m not sure I know what you mean.”

“Bullshit.” Sharp and biting. Ozpin seemed to shrink back. Taiyang tried not to be pleased. It was hard. Alone, Ozpin was a lot less intimidating and a lot easier to shake. Glynda was his strength. Glynda was his rock.

Without Glynda, Ozpin was just a man.

Just a small, scheming, idiotic man who’d overplayed his hand in a way that had backfired spectacularly. But Taiyang couldn’t be pleased by it. Not when Qrow had taken the brunt of the punishment.

“Where’s my brother?” Taiyang’s voice was hard. He leaned hard on the desk. “Where’s Qrow?”

Ozpin faltered. “I don’t know.” He wouldn’t look at Taiyang. “The White Fang attacked Vale last night and…” He grimaced and set down his coffee, visibly swallowed. “I’m sorry.”

“You should be.” Taiyang stood and walked around the desk, stabbing a finger at Ozpin. It occurred to Taiyang, then, that he was taller than Ozpin, though not by much, and in Ozpin’s distracted, seemingly exhausted state, Taiyang was even taller, and broader, than he should have been.

He could have picked Ozpin up, in that moment. Picked him up and thrown him against a wall and snarled until he destroyed his own voice. Qrow was missing. Vale was in danger. His _daughters_ were in danger.

He didn’t. The girls wouldn’t have approved. Besides, Taiyang wasn’t a violent man. Not off the battlefield, anyway. “Where’s James?” Something else he’d never gotten to talk to Qrow about, since he’d been on mission until about three days ago. God, how could he have been so blind? Qrow and James had always been good friends. Of course it could develop out just as easily.

Just like…

Taiyang shook it off.

“In their apartment, I suspect,” murmured Ozpin. Taiyang blinked, taking a moment to try and figure out what Ozpin was referring to. _Their. Qrow and James’._

“Where’s that?”

“Guest quarters,” said Ozpin. He wouldn’t look at Taiyang. “Fifth floor, fourth door on the right from the elevator.”

Taiyang nodded and headed for the elevator. “You’ve overplayed your hand, Oz,” said Taiyang. “And you’re a damn fool of a man too.”

Faintly, just before the elevator closed, Taiyang heard Ozpin say, “Well, you’re half right.”

* * *

 

Taiyang rapped on the door that he was fairly certain belonged James and Qrow. It was… odd, to say the least, standing here and knowing that this place had housed both Qrow and James for almost two months. Knowing that Qrow had gotten married – _married!_ – without telling him. Had he been worried what Taiyang would say? What the girls would say? Surely not. Taiyang had known Qrow was bisexual, even if the girls probably hadn’t, and he’d never cared.

It would be kind of hypocritical, all things considered. He and Qrow had…

The door opened, cutting off the thought before it could full form. Standing before him, taller, broader, and infinitely more intimidating in any other circumstance, was James Ironwood. And, quite frankly, he looked like a hot mess.

Bags under his eyes, hair mused and askew like he couldn’t stop running his fingers through it, chapped lips, light shadows of stubble across his face, and baggy clothes.

“Taiyang,” said James, the surprise evident despite his rough, raspy voice. He rubbed a hand over his face. “What… what are you doing here?”

“I’m here to help,” said Taiyang. God, had James even slept last night? “Can I come in?” James nodded and stepped aside, allowing Taiyang to step into the small living quarters that Qrow and James shared.

It was cleaner than he’d expected, most things in their place. A pair of empty glasses on the coffee table were the only thing out of place. Well, that and Qrow’s scythe-sword, propped against the fridge in the kitchen. Taiyang grimaced. It was no wonder Qrow had been taken.

But why the hell had he left it behind?

He must have really been shaken, or drunk out of his mind, to forget his weapon. Something had happened. Something big.

“Sorry about the mess,” murmured James from behind Taiyang. Taiyang raised an eyebrow and said nothing. If _this_ was considered to be a mess, he was worried as to how… _stark_ his clean would be. Would it be completely military and neutral? He worried about it. About James. About Qrow. About them.

“It’s fine,” said Taiyang, brushing it off. He turned to face James and saw the sorrow in his eyes, behind the exhaustion and the worry. “James, what happened?”

James shook his head and rubbed his hand across his face. Winced slightly. Said nothing for a minute. Then, “I honestly have no idea.”

“James?” Taiyang stepped forward, saw the way James’ knees buckled slightly from what Taiyang assumed was exhaustion. He reached out and placed a hand on James’ shoulder. “Why don’t we sit down?”

James nodded, swallowing hard, and let Taiyang lead him to the couch and sit him down. Tai reached out to grab the glasses, only to freeze when James said, “No!” rather sharply. He pulled back his hands and nodded.

“Okay, I won’t touch the glasses, but you have to tell me what’s going on,” said Taiyang.

James stared at his lap, hands folded together, and swallowed visibly. “I… I’m sorry.”

“For what?” asked Taiyang, furrowing his brow.

“For not telling you. For keeping you out of the loop. For not calling.” James shook his head. His voice dropped until it was barely audible. “I don’t deserve him.”

Ah, _geez._ Taiyang combed his fingers through his hair and grimaced. Oh no. He wasn’t going here right now, not while Qrow was missing and the girls were upset and he had no idea what to do next. He needed answers. They needed to find Qrow. _Then_ they could deal with everything else.

“James.”

“The White Fang has him.” The words were hoarse, but they cut through the air all the same. “I don’t know _where_ they are, but that’s who has him.” He grimaced and looked at the glasses, his gaze going glazed over and far away. “I should have been there.”

“You couldn’t have known,” said Taiyang, just as soft. He reached out and put a hand on James’ leg. “It’s not your fault.”

James pushed himself to his feet and stalked into the kitchen, his uneven footfalls ringing loudly in the quarters. Taiyang watched him go, frowning softly.

“James.”

“No.” James’ voice was tight. He paused at the counter, fists clenched against its surface. Even from across the room, Taiyang could see the tension that marred every inch of James’ body. Taiyang wanted to comfort him, to make him realize that he couldn’t have stopped this, but he didn’t know what to say.

Hell, he didn’t even know James that well, to be honest. But he wanted to.

“We’ll find him,” said Taiyang, standing slowly. He crossed the room and rested his hand between James’ shoulder blades. “We’ll find him, I promise.”

James looked over his shoulder, his eyes haunted and shadowed as he looked at Taiyang. “How can you be so sure?”

“Because he’s family,” said Taiyang, firmly. “And I’ll be _damned_ if I lose anyone else in my family.” He stabbed his free hand toward James. “That includes you, James. So get some rest while I do recon. Then we’ll head out.”

James opened his mouth to protest, but Taiyang shot him a hard look.

“You’re family now,” said Taiyang, voice soft now. “Let me help you.”

Slowly, James nodded. “Okay,” he said.

* * *

 

Qrow awoke to a sharp, biting cold that sent shrill screams of pain through his sleep heavy and aching body. He cursed inwardly and wiggled, finding the ground hard and unforgiving beneath him. Wit a soft curse, he groaned.

Or at least, he tried to groan, but it came out more as a pitiful warble.

And that was about when Qrow realized that he was still a bird. _Fuck._

Eyes snapping open, he quickly surveyed his surroundings, thanking whatever powers that be that birds couldn’t get hangovers. God, that would have _sucked._

He was… in a cage, by the looks of things. Not big enough to transform back but big enough to stretch his wings. The bars were thick and metal and not nearly far enough apart for him to squeeze through. Damn. He’d probably be torn apart if he tried to switch back to destroy the cage, too. They looked pretty damn reinforced.

_Fuck._

Qrow shook out his feathers and looked around, realizing he was suspended probably two feet off the ground. To his left – or was it right? – he saw a second set of bars, this one belonging to a proper cell.

There was a figure in the shadows and Qrow hobbled to the edge of the cage, poking his beak out and letting out a little caw. The figure moved.

After a moment, the figure climbed out of the shadows. It was a girl, probably about Ruby’s age, with long brown and pink hair and eyes that matched. Her cheeks were hollow, her eyes haunted, and her hands trembled as he wrapped her fingers around the bars. Her lip trembled with them.

Qrow cocked his head to one side and cawed again, still soft.

The girl reached out and sketched three letters into the air. It had been a while since Qrow had used sign language, but he remembered it well enough for this

N. E. O. Neo.

For a moment, Qrow was standing in the bar again, across from Junior and Torchwick. For a moment, he heard that conversation all over again. The girl. The teen. Roman’s fears. _He likes to keep trophies. Take care of your niece._

This was her. It had to be. Qrow didn’t have to know the name to know who she was. Fuck, no wonder Torchwick had been so terrified.

He scratched at the bars, cawing again. Cursed inwardly as he tried to figure out a way to form words. He leaped onto the bars and pecked out morse code, praying she knew it.

Q. R. O. W.

Neo’s eyes went wide, both pink, then mismatched again as she blinked. Her fingers flew. _“You can understand me. You’re a person.”_

Qrow tapped out, Y. E. S.

A banging on the wall. Neo shrunk back into the shadows. Qrow hopped down onto the floor of the cage and glared at the door as best as a crow could glare, which mostly meant ruffled feathers and a puffed out chest.

Taurus walked into the room. Or rather, he strutted into the room with all the arrogance and self-absorbed pride that only a man with his head a foot up his ass could possess. Qrow couldn’t clench his teeth – he didn’t have any – but he cawed angrily and flapped his wings, his feathers ruffling.

“Hello Qrow,” said Taurus. “Enjoying your time here?”

Qrow squawked and glared at Taurus as best he could. Taurus passed him by and laid one hand against the bars. He hummed and leaned forward, his mask’s eyes glowing. “Oh darling, where are you?”

Neo didn’t move from her spot in the shadows. Qrow clawed at the bars, screeching loudly. _Get the fuck away from her._

“Come on, darling, don’t you want to talk?” Neo didn’t move. Taurus sighed and walked away from the bars, shrugging. “Well, you know what the punishment is for misbehaviour, sweetheart.” His chuckles followed him all the way out of the room.

Qrow turned back toward Neo once Taurus was gone and the door had banged shut again. He pecked out some morse code. _Get out._

Neo’s figure appeared in the faint light of the bare bulb swinging overhead. She reached out between the bars and signed, _“How?”_

_I plan,_ pecked Qrow.

Neo smiled, but the gesture was tight and it didn’t reach her eyes, which were so full of fear that Qrow felt sick to his tiny stomach.

_“Thank you,”_ she signed, and Qrow cawed back at her.

He needed to think of something. Fast. Before Taurus came back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love!


	21. The Hunt for Qrow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the hiatus is over! Thank you everyone for your patience. Regular updates should resume for now, but I am starting uni next week (and I'm already here!) so we'll see.

With many of the teachers at Beacon tied up in hunting down the White Fang, James’ specialized hunt for Qrow was limited to himself, Taiyang, and Team RWBY. Of course, Team JNPR and Team SSSN had also joined them, on the insistence that Qrow was their best teacher and they wanted to save him. Penny was unfortunately absent, due to her repairs and upgrades in Atlas. He hoped she’d recover quickly, he missed her.

James wasn’t sure how much help a handful of hunters in training could offer, but he was willing to let them try. After all, it wasn’t as though he had people knocking down his door to find Qrow, and the Atlas Council had already vetoed his proposal to use a handful of soldiers to go look for Qrow, claiming the use of man power was unauthorized and completely unnecessary.

It was days like these that made James despise his job, no matter how much good he could do in his position.

“All right,” said James, as he surveyed the thirteen people before him. “We’re going to split up and take Vale in sections while staying in contact via scroll. Qrow is still in the city, we know that much, so we’re going to track all leads, check all back alleys, and follow up on any possible new areas.” He rolled his shoulders, all too aware of the pain that jarred his right. “Team RWBY, you’ll be checking the docks; Team JNPR, you’re assigned to the downtown area; Team SSSN, you’ll be checking the warehouses near the old storage district. Each of you should have a map in your scrolls showing where you should be searching. Am I clear?”

The twelve teenagers nodded in almost eerie unison.

“Good, split off. Remember, if you run into any problems, you’re to call Taiyang or myself immediately.” James looked over them once more, trying not quell the guilt that churned over and over in his stomach. “Stay safe, and good luck. Fall out.”

The three teams split off – scrolls up, weapons in rest, and determination in their eyes. James watched them go, swallowing as he did.

The air around Vale was thick with fear and mistrust. Even his soldiers could only keep the Grimm at bay for so long. If they didn’t stop the White Fang soon, it would be Mantle all over again.

“So, where do you want us?” asked Taiyang, looking over his shoulder as his daughters disappeared around a corner. His head swung back around to James a moment later, a flash of a smile in his otherwise worried expression.

Before James could respond, he heard the sharp click-click that only two pairs of heels ever made. Seeing as Glynda was currently busy, that left only one other person.

“Winter,” said James, turning to face her as she came down the street. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Winter snapped to attention, her heels clicking together. “Sir, I was informed that your… husband is missing.” James frowned at the hesitation. “I’ve come to offer my assistance.”

“Oh, this ought to be good,” said Taiyang from next to James.

“I’m sorry, who are you?” asked Winter, narrowing her eyes.

Taiyang flashed her a bright smile. “Qrow’s brother.”

Winter looked him up and down. “Aren’t you two… different ethnicities?”

Taiyang gave a put upon gasp. James resisted the urge to smile. Yes, everything was serious, Qrow was missing, and James was worried, but it was hard not to be endeared by Taiyang’s enthusiastic dramatics.

“Are you saying that one of us is… _adopted_?” Taiyang threw an arm over his face. “Oh, the horror. The tragedy. I don’t know if I can go on!”

Winter stared at Taiyang, before turning her wide-eyed and slightly frightened gaze to James. James bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling.

He really should have called Taiyang sooner. The man could make anyone laugh.

“Actually, Qrow’s my brother-in-law,” said Taiyang. He grimaced. Rubbed the back of his neck. “Sort of, anyway.” Taiyang cleared his throat. “Anyway, if you want to help, I’m sure we could use everyone we can. James, do you have a place Winter could go?”

James looked at Winter. For a moment, he said nothing, just looked her over. She was as kempt as she ever was, everything perfectly in place. Her eyes betrayed nothing but loyalty and mild confusion. Her stance was firm and military, just as it had been since the day he’d met Winter.

She hated Qrow, but she was loyal to James. He hadn’t known which way it would go – which emotion would win out – and it hadn’t seemed fair to order her to do something off the records like this.

But if she was here of her own accord…

“She can come with me,” said James. “We’ll be combing the lower districts, where the bars and clubs are. There’s a lot of storage there, it would be a good place to hide out.”

Winter gave a sharp nod. “Yes, sir.”

“Taiyang, take the edge of the Emerald Forest. There’s a lot of old escape tunnels out there, underneath the city,” said James. He raised an eyebrow at the other man. “I’m sure you’re familiar with them.”

The twinkle in Taiyang’s eyes said more than words could. “I’ll keep in contact. Good luck you two.”

“And you as well,” said James. He started off on foot toward the clubs and bars. “Winter, with me.”

“Yes, sir,” said Winter. She jogged a few steps to catch up with him, placing herself on his left side, and together the two struck off.

With the city covered, it was only a matter of time before they tracked down Qrow and the White Fang. Or, at least, that was what James hoped.

* * *

 

Two hours into their searching and no one had had any luck so far. James had taken the time, minutes ago, to check in with everyone to see how they were doing. Taiyang had sounded out of breath, but more alive than anyone else. Team RWBY was worried; Team SSSN was hopeful; Team JNPR was screechy. Or, rather, Nora Valkyrie was, but no one else had been able to get the scroll away from her.

James’ ears still rung from that last check-in.

“General?” asked Winter as they walked. James glanced over to Winter and nodded slightly. Winter continued, “Do… why…” She scowled and flexed her hands at her sides. It was an old gesture – one she’d had since her time in Atlas Academy. James remembered watching her do that during initiation, when she hadn’t been named the leader of her team.

That had been his mistake, in the end.

“Yes, Winter?” asked James. He kept is tone soft and his expression neutral, friendly, if he could. It had been… three days. God, had it really only been three days since the fight between Winter and Qrow? Four, at most. James was losing time left and right these days. Too much sleep, but not enough, all at once.

“Why Qrow?” asked Winter. The words weren’t judgemental, only curious and confused. It was a tone more suited to Weiss than it was to Winter, whose words had been sharp edged since her third year in Atlas.

James faltered. How did he explain to Winter just what was going on without giving it all away? Though, at this point, how much of it was a lie and how much was truth? James didn’t know anymore.

“I couldn’t tell you, quite honestly,” said James. He scanned the area around them, frowning slightly. “Qrow and I have been friends for years, and when we started dating…” He trailed off. No. Don’t lie. “I don’t know when I fell for Qrow, Winter, I only know that I did. He’s an incredible man, when you get to know him, and he’s been with me through some of the worst parts of my life.”

Winter glanced over to his right side, where his arm remained mostly stationary. “The worst?” she echoed.

James shook his head, left hand coming up to rub at his right shoulder. “No,” he said, softly. “Qrow was after. Most people were. But…” Qrow hadn’t judged. Not the way most did. He’d made a few cracks, of course, but that was his nature. And he’d let up once he knew that James didn’t like it.

“He’s an egotistic ass, quite frankly, sir,” said Winter. Her scowl could have shattered glass. In fact, James could almost imagine the windows of the clubs around them quivering under her glare. More likely it was from the music that filtered through the parted windows and doors, echoing faintly into the cool air.

He wasn’t sure if the clubs were actually open, or if they were simply preparing for the night, music playing to set the mood. He debated, briefly, ducking into a club and seeing if anyone around here knew where Qrow was, but that seemed unlikely. Besides, it would only alert the White Fang to what they were doing.

James wasn’t sure he wanted them to even suspect what was going on. Though, he imagined Taurus probably had a good idea.

“He’s selfless, kind, and an incredible huntsman,” said James. He glanced at another club and frowned before turning toward it. Winter followed. “He’s always stood by me, Winter.”

Winter gave a soft huff. “I just don’t understand how you could find him…” She shook her head. “I will relent that he is physically attractive, though I personally don’t see it.” She made a face at the words. “However, I cannot see the emotional or mental connection to such a man, nor why it would be desirable.”

James sighed as they stepped through the door of the club. Music surrounded them, pulsing beneath James’ skin and leaving him rubbing at his arms. He looked over at Winter, who had gone as rigid as a flag pole. Her gaze kept flicking to the people around them, all dressed in black suits with red ties, black hats, and black gloves.

“Boss?” called one of the people. They disappeared into the backroom. “Boss, there’s a guy in an _Atlas military uniform_ here.” The tightness in their voice had James swallowing hard. Damn. So much for staying under the radar.

“Where’s the owner of this club?” asked James, lifting his voice above the music. “I’d like to speak with them.”

Several of the people in suits looked at each other. None of them spoke. James frowned, noting that Winter’s hand was shifting toward her saber. James gave the barest shake of his head and her hand slid back to her side. She frowned as well, eyes tight and shoulders raised.

The door behind the bar counter opened and a large man – one bigger than James in height and weight, which was a rarity unto itself – stepped through.

“Name’s, Junior,” said the man, brushing his black gloved hands on his black pants. Winter snorted, slight but there, and James sent her a sharp look. Winter let her gaze swing toward the bodyguards and employees, eyes narrowed.

“Ironwood,” said James, holding out his hand. Junior took it, gaze not changing at James’ singular gloved hand. “I have a few questions for you.”

Junior’s eyebrows raised, his mouth twisting to one side. It was a hiding gesture, one that kept James from picking out his actual thoughts. Decent poker face for a civilian.

“What’s the general of Atlas want with a tiny club owner like me?” asked Junior. He took a step back and leaned against the bar, gaze flicking around James. The folded arms, shifted forward shoulders, it was all defensive, passive, but James knew that the odds of all the employees being armed were quite high.

He and Winter were hunters, but even they couldn’t handle three dozen armed bodyguards in an enclosed space without taking injury.

He only hoped that Junior was a sensible man, and that his opinion of the military hadn’t been tainted by recent events.

“The White Fang attacked Vale recently, I’ve been following up on some disappearances regarding the event,” said James.

Junior straightened, arms falling to his side and eyes growing wide. “Disappearances?” he echoed. “What… _who_ is missing?” His voice was tight, stumbling over the words. His gaze darted over to Winter, who had fallen into a defensive stance, a hand on her saber despite none of the employees sparing her a glance. “Teenagers? Girls?”

The name “Junior” finally clicked in James’ head. Torchwick’s guy. The one that had been with Torchwick when Qrow had come to question him.

Hei Xiong Jr., the clean-cut business man with his fingers so deep in the criminal world that going up against his club was considered an act of war against Vale’s underground.

Seeing the people Junior employed, all dressed the same and non-descript enough that James couldn’t have possibly picked them out of a line-up without their uniforms, James believed every word of what he’d heard about this man.

So, why the fear?

“No, my uh—” James cleared his throat. “—my husband.”

One of Junior’s hands came up and wiped around his face. He settled against the bar again and cursed softly. “Qrow Branwen.” It wasn’t a question. Junior dropped his hand and shook his head, a frustrated grimace on his face as he stared toward the balcony. “ _Damn it._ I told him to watch his back, but did he listen? No.” Junior gave a huff and pushed off the bar, circling back behind it.

He dropped a scroll onto the bar and gestured for James to come closer. A map appeared above the scroll, showing off the district of Vale they currently stood in.

“Look, how much do you know about what the White Fang does here in Vale?” he asked.

James shook his head slightly. “Not much,” he said. “I know they mostly work in group sabotage, using distraction techniques to take down racist stores and other organizations, alongside a liberal amount of low level terrorism and fear mongering.” The destroyed arena and fairgrounds came to mind, alongside the knowledge that the arena would have to be rebuilt, delaying the next Vytal Festival if not cancelling it altogether. “Though, I suppose low level is putting it lightly, as of late.”

“You got most of it right,” said Junior, “but you’re missing the biggest component: money.”

James frowned, brow furrowing as he glanced up at Junior across the holographic map. Junior gestured to the map, zipping it around different parts of Vale and lighting up certain streets.

“Anyone who knows Vale, knows me, anyone who knows me, knows I keep the streets pretty safe,” said Junior. James nodded. Turf wars, right, he’d heard about this from Qrow. Just hadn’t realized how involved Junior was with Roman’s territory war with Taurus. Though, hearing Junior speak, he wondered if Qrow hadn’t gotten it backward.

“But even I can only do so much,” continued Junior. “The White Fang covers Vale beyond this line.” He gestured to the yellow line drawn across the downtown area. “I cover everything to the north, they cover everything to the south, including the docks.” Junior frowned deeply enough to form deep groves in his forehead. “The borders have been contested for months now, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.”

“What does that have to do with the kidnapping?” asked James.

“Kidnappings,” corrected Junior. “This marks four. The first two were recovered, but your husband, Qrow, and one other haven’t been.”

“Who?” asked James.

“Neo.” The voice came from behind James, but he knew it well from police reports. Even as he turned, he knew who he’d find.

_Roman Torchwick._

The man looked worse than his mugshot made him out to be. No precise lines around his eyes or perfectly coifed hair. Just a haggard expression matching an equally haggard appearance. Slumped shoulders, bags under the eyes, laugh lines around his mouth and crow’s feet. None of it matched what he’d been told about Roman Torchwick. Even his trademark hat was missing, revealing his disheveled hair.

“Who’s Neo?” asked James.

Roman’s lips twitched. “My daughter,” he said. “Taurus took her. I want her back. Just like you want your husband back.”

James nodded. “Do you know where he is?”

“Vaguely,” said Roman. “Just don’t have the skill to go get her.” He gestured to the suited employees around them, and even that simple movement seemed to exhaust him. “It’s one thing to go in guns blazing and hope for the best, that’s liable to get her killed, but you military guys? You know how to sneak, how to retrieve.”

James frowned. “Say what you mean, Torchwick.”

Roman grinned. “It’s one thing to steal a thing from someone, Ironwood, it’s another thing entire to steal _back_ a person.” He shrugged, a rolling of his shoulders that would probably have been more elaborate if he had the energy. “I’m good at the former, but Atlas? Atlas is good at the latter.”

Winter growled.

“So, what do you say, Ironwood?” asked Roman. “You hear what I’m saying?”

“I do,” said James. He looked back at Winter, who was tense enough that James had sympathy pain just looking at her. He nodded to her and Winter looked away, still scowling. “You want to work together.”

“Taurus took someone from both of us, I’m only proposing that we work together long enough to get them back.” Roman walked forward and held out his hand to James. “I’ve got the intel, you’ve got the skill.” He cocked an eyebrow. “You in?”

James took Roman’s hand as he nodded, expression firm. “I’m in. Let me call the others, then we’ll get to work.” He pulled out his scroll and sent out an all call, even as Winter shot James a look that said just how little she trusted the people around them.

James tried not to let her worries become his own. If Torchwick and Junior had the intelligence that they needed, then it was only logical to work with them. Besides, if saving Qrow meant also saving Torchwick’s daughter, he couldn’t find fault in that. He wasn’t a father, not truly, but the thought of losing Penny… well, it was enough to make James disregard that was working with criminals.

Even if he couldn’t quite forget the fact.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love!


	22. Enemy Mine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so the rescue effort begins. Back to regular updates, these two were just so close together because of the hiatus.

It took roughly half an hour for everyone out looking for Qrow to make their way to Junior’s club. By the time Teams RWBY, JNPR, and SSSN, as while as Taiyan,g had arrived, James had cleared a space in the club to work on with his holograms and plans. It helped that Xiong had procured a table from the back to let him spread out.

“What is _he_ doing here?” growled out Blake. Yang rested her right hand on Blake’s shoulder, the gesture obviously meant to be soothing, but her glare went to Torchwick as well. “Thought you and the White Fang were working together?”

Torchwick snorted. “Nah, sweetheart. We’re at war.” A shadow fell across his face. “They took my daughter.”

“We’ll get her back,” said James, stepping in before Blake, who had opened her mouth to respond, could say anything more. “The rest of you – I know this isn’t exactly conventional, but neither is what we’re trying to do. Qrow has been captured by terrorists and we have no external forces for assistance.” He gestured to the club around them, to Xiong’s employees, the students, and to Winter and Taiyang – the only trained hunters out of the group. “This is all we have to rescue both of them.” He shot Blake a look when she opened her mouth to protest once again. “So, for now, we’re putting our differences aside.”

“And after this? After we’re done?” asked Yang. Her eyes were narrowed at the twins, who stood off to the side. They glowered right back, their arms folded tightly across their chests.

“Tell you what, blondie,” said Torchwick. He looked more put together now, his make-up and hair in place and his body language fluid, if still tired. A performer through and through. James could respect that about him, if nothing else. It took a lot to be a performer of that calibre. “If you lot can save Neo, I’ll help you drive the White Fang right out of Vale and be on my merry way.”

“You’ll leave town?” asked Blake. The disbelief in her voice was almost physical. Out of the corner of his eye, James saw Xiong frown and straighten.

Torchwick scoffed and flipped his hair out of his eyes. “Obviously not. This place is my home, just like it’s yours.” He leaned forward on the bar, hidden behind it for the moment. “But I’ll stop being anything more than just some petty little thief.” His gaze slid to Xiong, momentarily going soft. “I’ve got more than just myself and Neo to worry about, these days.”

“Speaking of which, we’re missing two of us,” said Xiong. He looked down at his scroll, which he held in one massive hand, and then to the door. As if on cue, the door to the club opened and in walked Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai. “Hey, you two.”

“ _Them_?” Ruby and Yang’s voices sounded in unison.

“Wait, your teammates…?” Yang’s head swung toward the twins, who nodded. “ _Damn_ it.” She clenched her fists at her sides and scowled. Then cursed under her breath and wrapped an arm around his stomach, grimacing.

“Hey, hey, easy,” said Sun, already placing a hand on her shoulder. “You’re still recovering.”

Yang glowered at the twins and at Mercury and Emerald, who settled next to them.

“Hey, don’t look at us. We were at Beacon because we thought there was a White Fang informant there,” said Mercury. He spread his hands. “We were wrong. Big deal. Now we’re here, so let’s find this asshole, tear him apart, and save the day.”

“Since when are you a hero?” asked Jaune, but his voice was more grumble than anything else. Pyrrha laid a hand on his arm and smiled softly at him.

“That’s enough,” said James, sharply. Everyone fell silent and all gazes swung to James. He took a deep breath, straightened his shoulders, and switched to his general voice. “We have a lot of work to do and little time to do it. With Taurus becoming bolder, it’s obvious that he’ll be making his main move sooner rather than later.” He set his scroll on the table and tapped it, bringing up a map of Vale to float over the table.

“We know the White Fang is operating out of the southeast side and that’s a lot of ground to cover. We’ll send out scouts in teams of two to locate their base in order to gain intel.” He tapped the map, zooming in on the southeast side. “From there, we’ll organize a strike team and a distraction, drawing out the White Fang in order to send the strike team in and recover Qrow and Neo.”

“How are we going to draw them out?” asked Torchwick.

James looked up at him, keeping his expression as neutral as possible. “I thought we’d take a page out of your book and go with the old-fashioned route – explosives.”

Torchwick’s eyebrows shot up into his hair. “Explosives?” James wasn’t sure which part of Roman’s voice was winning out – the disbelief or the awe. Maybe a bit of excitement in there too. “God, tell me we’re going to show these assholes who they’re messing with.”

“We’ll be using controlled charges to draw their attention, with pyrotechnics to ensure they think it’s you,” said James.

“What can I say, I’m a performer at heart,” said Torchwick, shrugging as he spread his hands.

James’ lips twitched, but he got his expression under control before anything else could take form. “That’s what I’m counting on.” He turned his attention to the map again. “With most of their forces out looking for a fight, we’ll be able to take a strike team in with little resistance and bring Qrow and Neo out.”

“And if they leave more people behind than you think they will?” asked Xiong. “Or if they come back too quickly?”

James hummed. “Well, in a worst case scenario, we could blow their base on the way out. Though, that might be a bit extreme.”

“We could kill people,” said Blake. “We can’t _do_ that.”

James had a feeling he knew why she didn’t want him to hurt the White Fang, but he said nothing. It wasn’t his business and he didn’t want to draw attention to her unnecessarily. “No,” he agreed. “But this is a worst case scenario, Miss Belladonna. And in my business, we plan for the worst and hope for the best.”

Blake frowned and said nothing. Yang wrapped one arm around Blake’s waist and rested her chin on Blake’s shoulder.

“We’ll come to the rest as we need it,” said James. He hoped his voice and his expression were more sympathetic than neutral, but he couldn’t be sure. “For now, we need to organize scouts.” He looked to the map, then to the people in the club. Pressed his lips together. His scouts were children. His army as well. And he didn’t trust Xiong’s employees as far as he could throw them. It wouldn’t do well to use them, especially with the White Fang after Xiong. He’d have to leave them behind.

Worse still, he had no access to his military, his androids, or even Penny. She’d been taken back to Atlas while he’d been stuck in pre-emptive mourning. James wished he’d gotten to say goodbye.

And he hoped he’d see her again soon.

“Blake, Ren,” said James. Both looked up. “You’ll be scouting quadrant one.” He tapped the map, dividing the southeast side into quadrants. “Sun and Ruby, you’ll be taking quadrant two. Pyrrha and Sage will be taking quadrant three. Winter and Weiss will be taking quadrant four. Are we clear?”

“Yes, sir,” they said.

“All right,” said James. “Get in your pairs and get into position. Keep in contact and don’t go until my signal. And, whatever you do, don’t engage the White Fang. Are we clear?”

More nods all round.

“Then head out,” said James. The groups split off, those not chosen remaining behind, and James caught Ruby’s worried expression as she walked out of the club. Caught her mouthing the word “Penny” as she looked up at Sun, who put a hand on her shoulder and smiled.

James set up the rest of his holographic screens. It was time to make some progress.

* * *

 

Ruby and Sun moved through the southeast side in perfect silence, their forms incredibly different but working in harmony. From shadow to shadow they moved, neither speaking, neither breathing very hard. The work was methodical – slip up to warehouse, check warehouse, move on. So far, they’d checked four different warehouses with no luck.

Ruby wondered if they’d find the White Fang. She wondered if Neo and Uncle Qrow were scared.

She wondered if Penny would come back soon. She’d left two days ago. She’d gone with a doctor, or was he a professor? She didn’t know. Maybe he was her father. But Ruby just couldn’t remember.

A lot had happened in the last few weeks. It was hard to keep it all straight.

“Ruby, you all right?” Sun’s voice was soft at her side. “You’ve been weirdly quiet all week.”

“I miss Penny,” said Ruby. “And Uncle Qrow.”

Sun put his hand on her shoulder as they crept through the shadows. “I get you. Don’t worry, we’ll find them.”

Ruby nodded and followed Sun through the shadows. She put herself through the motions – creep, check, move on – but her mind was elsewhere. All she could think about was her sister, who hid her frustration but not her pain, and Penny, who was somewhere and may never be coming back, and her Uncle Qrow, who had finally gotten to a point in his life where he was happy, but then had it torn away.

This wasn’t right.

When had the world gotten so complicated?

“Hey, Rubes,” called Sun. Ruby blinked and found that Sun was perched on the second floor window of the warehouse in front of Ruby. She frowned and looked up at him, raising an eyebrow in question. Crescent Rose was heavy on her back, a weight that reminded her of the fight she’d been promised to get her uncle back.

“I think I found something,” said Sun. He pulled out his scroll and snapped a picture before leaping down to join Ruby again.

Ruby took the scroll and checked the picture. Cages. A handful of them. Weapons, as well. And in the midst, several White Fang members, their masks distinctive in the darkness.

“We should call General Ironwood,” said Ruby.

“Right,” said Sun. He looked at Ruby before taking back the scroll. “Get your game face on Ruby, looks like we’re going to war.”

* * *

 

The sun was setting over Vale. Qrow could see it, barely, through the slit windows at the top of the warehouse walls. He flapped his wings and scowled inwardly, trying to stretch without hurting himself. He’d been stuck like this too long. His mind was spinning closer and closer to bird with every passing hour.

It wasn’t enough to talk to Neo as a way to hold onto his humanity. It wasn’t enough to think of his girls and Tai and James. If he didn’t transform back soon, he’d start to slip. He’d seen it happen with… with Raven, before. It took weeks to come out of it after that. And if they fell too far… well, Qrow wasn’t sure if they’d want to turn back at all, after that.

He sighed, inward, and looked to Neo. The door opened behind Qrow and Taurus walked in.

“Cupcake,” sang Taurus. “It looks like your father is making his move. My boys have spotted activity down by the docks.” He tsk-ed and stroked the bars of her cage. “Soon, he won’t be a problem. Soon, you’ll be mine.” He chuckled and looked her up and down, a gesture that was obvious even with his mask. “Perhaps I’ll get you a bow, my darling. And a new outfit. What do you think, is black your colour?”

Neo whimpered and scooted back from the bars.

“Soon,” said Taurus. Then he turned and was gone, rattling Qrow’s cage as he went. Once the door closed, Qrow let out a comforting warble to Neo. She smiled at him through the shadows, but the bruises on her face made the gesture more grotesque than anything else.

As soon as Qrow was human again, he was going to break Taurus’ neck with his own bare hands.

In the distance, there was an explosion. Then another. Then another. Small, focused, and almost… almost like fireworks.

Qrow let out another warble to Neo. James was coming. Before the sun rose, he and Neo would be free.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love!


	23. Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rescue of Qrow, so to speak.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I make no apologies.

The teams were picked, the time was set, and everything was it its place. It was time to get to work.

The distraction team consisted of Taiyang, Torchwick, Team JNPR, Weiss, Ruby, Sage, Neptune, and Scarlet. The strike team consisted of James, Winter, Blake, Yang, Emerald, Mercury, and Sun. Smaller, but each member of the strike team had a purpose.

As the distraction team worked its way through the abandoned area, the strike team moved in. James and Winter led them in two separate attacks. James, Emerald, Sun, and Yang would take the front door while Winter, Blake, and Mercury would take the side entrance. Between the two, they had everything covered for inside the warehouse.

“Winter, take the b-team and head inside now, we’ve got you covered,” said James. He and his three companions moved toward the door in silence, with James taking point and Yang at the back. While the wound on her stomach had healed, she wasn’t at one hundred percent quite yet, and James didn’t want to risk her getting hurt.

“Inside. Stick to the edges, silent takedowns. No unnecessary force,” said James. The others nodded. “We’re here as a rescue effort, not to start a slaughter.”

Sun swung open the front door to the warehouse, and then it was go time.

The first guard that appeared didn’t even know they were there. He turned toward the sound of the open door and frowned, looking left, then right, through the door. Emerald’s head tipped with him, the slow swaying motion drawing James’ eye as well.

After a moment, the guard shrugged and walked off.

“Nicely done,” whispered James. Emerald nodded and the four stepped into the warehouse proper. James’ eyes trailed up along the ceiling, noting the cages there, while Sun and Yang split off to cover more ground.

A bird stared cawing. James’ gaze swung toward the swinging cage and the crow within it. It cawed and shrieked again, flapping its wings and lifting off the floor of the cage. James frowned. Why was Taurus keeping a bird in a cage? Was it a messenger bird?

There was a flurry of movement to his left, James shifted into a defensive position, already reaching for his gun. But when he turned, all he saw was a girl, probably about Ruby’s age, climbing out of the shadows in her own cage. She stared up at James with bright white eyes, her dual coloured hair hanging in her face and her nails ragged and torn.

Worn down and broken, but she matched Torchwick’s picture of his daughter almost perfectly. James let his hand lower from his gun.

“Neo?” he guessed. She nodded. James stepped forward and snatched up the lock on the cage in his right hand. It had two key holes. He growled lowly and _yanked_. The lock broke and the door swung open. Neo stepped back, still staring at James.

“My name is James Ironwood,” he said, spreading his hands so as to not look like a threat. “Your father, Roman, he sent me.” Neo still wouldn’t come forward. Frankly, James didn’t blame her. If he’d been captured by Taurus, he wouldn’t trust strangers either.

There had been a word Roman had told James, in case this happened. “He calls you Creamsicle, doesn’t he?” asked James. “Junior?”

Neo came forward, hesitant and still shaking. When she blinked, one of her eyes went pink, then brown. James took a breath and allowed his shoulders to relax. If one of her eyes was changing, then she was believing him. That was what Torchwick had said.

“Have you seen someone else here? A man named Qrow?” asked James. Neo pointed over James’ shoulder. James followed her gesture to the bird in the cage again. He sighed. “No, a man named Qrow. Not a bird.” Neo pointed again, harder this time.

James only frowned. What was she doing?

Neo rolled her eyes and stumbled passed James, jumping for the cage that was too short for her to reach. James straightened and followed her, reaching out for the cage with his right hand. The bird cawed again and flapped its wings. It sounded almost… desperate.

With a quiet sigh, James reached for the lock on the cage. Maybe it wasn’t Qrow, but this poor bird didn’t deserve to suffer at Taurus’ hands either. He snapped the lock and opened the cage.

The bird flew out and circled James once before collapsing to a heap on the concrete floor. James reached out toward the bird, worried about its well-being. He jerked back when the bird started to pulse and grow, and, a moment later, in a flurry of feathers, Qrow was in the bird’s place on his hands and knees.

He coughed and choked, voice rough and shrieking just like a bird’s. He looked up at James, who stared in horror. James’ gaze swung toward Neo, who looked surprised, but not shocked. She smiled at Qrow and held out her hand. He took it and got shakily to his feet.

“Qrow?” asked James. He stumbled forward a step and caught Qrow by his shoulders, holding him at arm’s length. “What the? When did you? How?”

“So uh,” said Qrow, his voice still like sandpaper on James’ ears. “I don’t teleport.”

“I gathered,” croaked James, and he yanked Qrow into a hug. Qrow hugged back, his arms tight around James’ shoulders, and the two stood like that for a minute, clinging to one another.

When they pulled back, James smiled at Qrow, resting their foreheads together.

“We need to talk, when all of this is over,” said James, softly. Qrow nodded, but there was no worry in his eyes, only hope, wonder, and maybe, James dared to think, _love._

“General Ironwood!” James and Qrow pulled themselves away from each other as Winter approached. “The guards are returning; we need to move.”

“Did you figure out what Taurus is doing?” asked Qrow.

James shook his head. “It’s just a turf war. We need to go.” He started around Qrow, only for Qrow to grab his wrist and turn him back toward Qrow.

“All this over a turf war? You don’t think that’s a little strange?” asked Qrow, raising an eyebrow. James frowned. He hadn’t thought about it, before, what with everything else going on, but Qrow brought up a good point. This seemed… off. Why would Taurus go to all this trouble over a few contested blocks? There had to be something more to it.

“General.” Winter’s voice was firm. “We have to go.”

James nodded. “Move out. We got what we came for. Let’s get out of range and blow this place. No more letting the White Fang rule in Vale.” The two teams turned to leave, only for all the light in the warehouse to abruptly disappear as all the windows shuttered in perfect unison.

“General?”

“Stay alert! Sun, give us eyes,” said James. Two flickering figures appeared in the darkness, both shaped like Sun. “Form up, get your backs to each other.” They all shifted, weapons out and arms up. On one side of him, Neo lifted her fists, both her eyes solid colours. On the other side, Qrow raised his own fists. James didn’t draw his gun. In this condition, he was more likely to hurt them, not the White Fang.

From the front of the warehouse, James heard slow, sarcastic clapping.

“Oh, bravo, General,” came a voice that James was unfortunately familiar with. _Taurus._ “So you figured out where I was holding them. That doesn’t mean you’ve won.”

James shifted around, trying to figure out where the rest of the White Fang was. He could hear them moving around, but he couldn’t see them. “What do you want?”

A rustle of movement. A shout. A curse. Their circle abruptly missing someone.

“What I wanted was for you to bring my darling Blake back to me.” A chuckle. James felt a rustle of a motion. Ducked at the last second. A fist flew above his head. He jerked upward and caught the fist. Got booted in the stomach. Stumbled backward to hit someone else in the circle.

“Give me eyes, Sun!” More glowing figures, darting out into the warehouse. They managed to get away from the White Fang, throwing light around the open space. Taurus stood near the front of the warehouse, cast in an eerie half glow, with two White Fang members standing on his right side. Strung between them by her arms, not unlike a caught fish, was Blake, struggling and snarling.

Taurus reached out, Blake jerked back, but he caught her bow and yanked it off, revealing a pair of slim black cat ears.

“You were never one of them, darling,” said Adam. He tossed the ribbon onto the floor. “I don’t know why you tried.”

James took a step forward, only for every White Fang member in the warehouse to raise their guns and lock onto the circle as one. He stopped, narrowing his eyes.

“All of this over me?” asked Blake. She spat at Taurus, who grimaced and wiped it from his face. “You really are desperate.” Her words were a sneer, her eyes glowing and filled with disgust.

Taurus held up a small device in his free hand. James felt himself pale. It was the detonator for the remote charges in the warehouse. Winter had been holding it. Someone must have grabbed it in the few seconds of darkness. James swallowed. If Taurus hit that button, they’d have sixty seconds to get clear.

“I’d be careful what you say to be, darling, I do hold your lives in my hands,” he said. He tossed the detonator in his hand, smirking. “You’re coming with me.”

“Like hell I am,” growled Blake. She jerked harder in the two men’s grips. “Let me go.”

James shifted half a step backward, his hands switching slightly toward his gun.

“Tell me, General, do you know what an aura piercer is?” asked Taurus, without looking away from Blake.

James narrowed his eyes, hand pausing. “An impossibility, at best.”

Taurus chuckled, resting his hand on his sword. He drew it a few inches from the sheath, revealing the glowing red blade.

“No!” said Blake, her eyes wide and her mouth trembling. “Don’t. Please.”

Taurus drew his sword and sighed, resting the tip of the blade beneath Blake’s chin. “Oh, darling, you should know better by now than to tell me what do to.” He hummed, tilting Blake’s head to one side with the movement of his sword. Tears gathered in Blake’s eyes.

“Boys?” The White Fang’s heads rose. “Kill ‘em all.”

“Move!” James darted forward just as the Sun’s afterimages exploded, destroying the light in the warehouse. Movement exploded around him. Guns going off and weapons being drawn. Mercury’s boots were a flash of light in the darkness as their bullets swirled around him. Winter’s glyphs lit up the ground.

James tackled Taurus around the waist and took him to the ground, snarling. The sword clattered somewhere off to the left, a flash of red in the darkness.

“Get down!” Winter’s voice.

“Mercury!” Emerald’s.

“Blake?” Yang’s.

Taurus chuckled beneath James and James, beneath the cacophonous sound that forced itself outward on the warehouse walls, heard the tell-tale click of the detonator.

_No._

Sixty seconds.

“Get out of the warehouse!” shouted James, shoving himself to his feet in the darkness. He stumbled blindly, spotting Winter’s glyphs and Taurus’ sword. “We have sixty seconds, go!”

He grabbed at Blake and yanked her toward the door. But there was a shout and a curse and Blake was lost to him in the crowd that surged forward. She screamed, Taurus growled, and she was gone into the shadows.

“Blake!” Yang’s voice again.

An arm on James, quickly noted to be Neo’s. James hauled her out of the warehouse. He turned as they got clear, spotting Mercury and Emerald, then Winter and Sun, then Qrow. But Blake and Yang were missing.

Twenty seconds.

“Qrow? Where are—” James spotted them. A flash of light from Taurus’s sword, the glow of Yang’s semblance. A scream as she launched herself at Taurus. Qrow bolted forward, back into the warehouse.

Eight seconds.

The entire world slowed down, everything in painful detail. Yang launched herself at Taurus, who had Blake on the floor. A flash of Taurus’ sword as it sliced clean through Yang’s right arm. A scream – from who, James didn’t know – as Yang went down. Taurus grabbed Blake and disappeared into the darkness again. Qrow caught Yang as she went down, both of them hitting the concrete hard.

Two seconds.

“Qrow!”

Brilliant light as the warehouse exploded. A flash of golden yellow dropping in front of James. Screams. Snarls. A force so strong it blew James backward.

And then nothing but darkness and a ringing in his ears that wouldn’t stop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love!


	24. The Cost of "Winning"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha. Yeaaaah.

The slow, steady beeping of the heartrate monitor counted out the heartbeats of the bed’s sole occupant. The sun, just barely risen above the horizon, spilled across the hospital bed, split into bars by the slitted blinds. James stared at the bed from where he sat, elbows on his knees and hands dangling between his legs. He hadn’t slept. He couldn’t sleep.

This was all his fault.

Technically, he had slept. Or rather, rested. The bandages wrapped around his head attested to that. He’d suffered head trauma and been knocked unconscious for a few minutes. Apart from the bandages and a few first degree burns that littered his left side, now also bandaged, it was impossible to tell.

He should have been in a coma, like Qrow. James’ gaze flicked to the bed again. His hands trembled where they rested between his legs. He took a deep, shaky breath.

God, this was all his fault.

The door swung open and Taiyang appeared, missing his eyebrows and wearing someone else’s clothing, but otherwise completely unharmed.

“Hey,” said Taiyang, softly. James nodded to him before his gaze went back to Qrow. Already, his aura was working to repair the extensive burn across his right side. With help from the IVs they had hooked up to Qrow, he wouldn’t even scar.

He was lucky in more ways than one. James still wondered how it hadn’t been worse.

“How’re you feeling?” asked James. Taiyang had evidently been in the explosion too, if he looked the way he did.

“I’ve been better,” said Taiyang. James nodded, the gesture slight. He could only imagine how hard it was for Taiyang, to have one of his daughters in the same position as Qrow. His best friend and his eldest girl, both rendered into comas and with extensive damage.

The image of Yang, falling, as her right arm fell separately, still haunted James whenever he closed his eyes.

“You?” asked Taiyang.

James shrugged, the gesture tugging at the pain in his right side. It was a distant thing, barely noticeable in the grand scheme. They had him on painkillers. They could have put him on more, but he refused. He needed to be awake. To see. To watch.

To know.

“What happened out there?” asked James, not removing his gaze from Qrow’s sleeping form. He still had all his hair, thankfully. Qrow would have thrown a fit if he’d lost even part of his precious hair. He was a bit like his niece that way.

“Do you know what my semblance is?” asked Taiyang, stepping into the room. He took the chair across from James, on the other side of Qrow’s bed. Down the hall was Yang’s hospital bed. James had been there first, to convince himself that she was still alive.

She was, if only because of her semblance or her aura – or both, maybe. Ruby, Weiss, and Taiyang had been watching over her when James had checked in. Blake was nowhere to be found. Taurus, no doubt.

They’d saved Qrow, but Blake had been lost in the chaos. In some ways, James thought they were worse off than when they started. Qrow could stand against Taurus. Blake evidently had before, and it hadn’t gone well. He prayed that she’d survive whatever Taurus had in store for her until he and the others could find her.

Neo, Roman, and Junior were also nowhere to be found, alongside Emerald, Mercury, and the Malachite twins. James figured they’d stay low for a while. Figured they wouldn’t appear again unless their need was dire.

“No,” said James. He clasped his hands together, elbows on his knees, and pressed his lips into a thin line. There was no use in trying to stop the shaking that had overtaken his hands, but still he tried. He had to try.

There wasn’t much else for him to do, other than call the Council. Or Ozpin. Neither option appealed. He’d have to deal with it all, at some point, but not now. No, not now. They didn’t matter when he didn’t know if Qrow would live or die.

“I absorb kinetic energy, like Yang,” said Taiyang. “But it’s not just forces that hit me. I can absorb it from the world around me, direct it toward me, stuff like that. Then I can throw it back or use it to amp up my aura.” Taiyang shrugged at the edge of James’ vision.

Realization dawned. The golden light in the explosion. The flash, the pressure. The fact that no one caught in the blast – not he, not Winter, not anyone – was anywhere near as injured as they should have been. Only Qrow, who’d been at its centre, and Yang, whose aura had almost broken beforehand, were in hospital care. And even they had survived in better condition than they should have.

“You saved us,” said James. He stared at Taiyang, eyes slowly growing wider as he looked over the other man. “You saved _all_ of us.”

Taiyang shook his head. “I tried,” he said, voice low. “I couldn’t save Qrow and Yang, not completely, and I have no idea what happened to Blake or Taurus or…” He sighed and bit at his nails, tearing one and spitting it out onto the floor. James didn’t bother to point out how unhygienic it was. He didn’t think Taiyang cared.

“You tried,” said James, leaning forward. “And you did well.”

“Not well enough,” muttered Taiyang. His gaze swung toward Qrow, his lips pressing hard together and his eyes going shadowed. “I can’t absorb injury, just what causes it, and I wasn’t fast enough.”

James said nothing. The last words rung hard in his mind. He clenched his fists together and fought back the surge of guilt the wracked his frame at those words. _If only he wasn’t broken._

He wanted to speak, to tell Taiyang how similar they were, but he found the words wouldn’t come. It wasn’t that there was nothing he could say, but rather that he had no idea how to say any of it. How could he tell Taiyang that this wasn’t his fault, but James’? How could he possibly explain just what had happened between himself and Qrow?

Should he lie? Should he tell the truth? James didn’t know. Wasn’t sure he could do either without asking Qrow. But that wasn’t an option, not currently. And James didn’t know when it would be an option again.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, both knowing that something needed to be said but neither knowing what it was that they should say.

“I need to go,” said Taiyang, after almost five minutes in silence. “I need to keep an eye on my girls.” He stood, hands shoved in his pockets. “You’ll watch him?” It was a question in the barest definition, closer to affirmation than anything else. James nodded nonetheless.

“Take care, Taiyang,” said James. He watched Taiyang go before returning his gaze to Qrow’s still form in the bed.

It had been only hours since the explosion in the warehouses, but even now Qrow’s face was almost completely healed. James wanted to reach out and stroke Qrow’s hair, trace his jaw and his cheekbones with more than just his eyes. Or even just hold Qrow’s hand while he waited for Qrow to heal enough to awaken.

But he couldn’t. Sure, he was Qrow’s husband in writing, and according to the outside world, but James had no idea where he and Qrow stood anymore. After the night they spent together – emotional and passionate as it was – they’d never properly talked. That had been four days ago, James finally figured out. The fight and night was four, the morning and Qrow’s capture was three.

Three days that felt like an eternity. Four days that had changed everything, for better or for worse, forever. There was no going back after what had transpired between himself and Qrow that night, nor after how they’d reacted the morning after.

Truthfully, James didn’t want things to return to what they once had been. Having Qrow so close to him over the past few months had been paradise unto itself. It had been so long since he’d let someone in like that, and he’d never let anyone outside of his doctors see what he looked like after the accident. His fear of reaction, of ridicule, of _fear_ , had kept him from letting anyone in.

But then there’d been Qrow, who had never looked twice at his prosthetics, who had never thought any less of him. Qrow, who’d never treated him any different from the rest of his colleagues and, later, friends, regardless of his body parts or his status in the world.

He liked that closeness. Liked waking up next to someone and knowing Qrow liked the prosthetics as much as he liked James. The way Qrow had cuddled up to James in his sleep over and over, despite the tank tops and t-shirts that James often wore to bed, was something James thought he’d never get back after the accident.

But he had, and he’d gotten it back in a way he’d never had before. Sure, this was all supposed to be a charade, but it wasn’t possible that Qrow had faked everything. Especially not with the way he’d fallen into bed with James. The way they’d moved together…

A flush ran up the back of James’ neck just thinking about that night. It was something else he’d never expected, after the accident. Especially not with what laid between his legs. But that hadn’t bothered Qrow, no, he’d been just as eager to get James naked as he’d been to get himself naked.

James sighed softly, unsure of what to make of his thoughts or what they could mean.

A moment later, the door opened for the second time that morning. In it stood Glynda, looking more alert and put together than she had any right to.

“Good morning, James,” said Glynda. The temptation to say ‘what’s so good about it?’ prickled on the back of James’ tongue, but he held it back.

“Glynda,” he said instead, nodding slightly. He returned his gaze to Qrow, frowning. If Glynda was here, that could only mean one of two things, either she’d come of her own accord, in which case James would have a sympathetic ear, or she’d come on Ozpin’s orders, which meant that she was here as a colleague, not a friend, and James didn’t want to hear what she had to say.

“Why are you here?” asked James. His gaze combed Qrow’s limp form, checking for regularity in his breathing. The heartrate monitor continued its steady rhythm of beeps and the IVs kept their steady dripping. The machines were functioning, Qrow was breathing. It was only a matter of time.

But how long?

“Ozpin sent me.” Glynda took the same seat Taiyang had, but instead of leaning forward, she crossed one leg over the other and rested her hands in her lap, her shoulders back and her chin high.

James said nothing. A minute passed.

“James, Ozpin…”

“I don’t want to hear it.” James’ words were sharper than he’d intended, but he found he didn’t much want to take them back. He and Glynda were supposed to be friends, if she were here as a friend, James would have listened. But she wasn’t. She was here as Ozpin’s gopher, a job that was better suited to interns and students than it was to a woman of Glynda’s status. Not that she’d ever say anything to Ozpin.

Not that James would either. For similar reasons.

“The Council wants to talk to you,” said Glynda after a few minutes of silence. James said nothing. “So does Ozpin.” Still, James said nothing. After a minute, Glynda sighed, loud and frustrated. “You can’t ignore me forever.”

“I can try,” said James, not taking his gaze off Qrow’s bed. And he could. With his power and his intelligence, the Atlesian Council wouldn’t toss him. Sure, he might end up on probation, or they might try to force him back from Atlas. Both were easily workable, and they couldn’t make him go back to Atlas so long as Qrow was in a hospital in Vale.

The joys of helping run a militant country. Rules worked in your favour once in a while. Rare as it was, he could still use those rules to keep himself and Qrow safe and together, at least until the school year started again.

He didn’t know what would happen then.

Not that it mattered. If Qrow was awake by then, and James hoped he was, god did he hope he was, then they had to talk about what they were, what they wanted. As far as James knew, this entire charade would have fallen apart by then and he and Qrow would never be the same. Or perhaps Qrow would want to come with him, or maybe Qrow would want to stay in Patch. It was impossible to tell, and James’ mind went around and around in circles as he tried to figure out just what the hell to do.

“You broke the law, James,” said Glynda, her voice firm and impatient. “You need to answer for it.” James still didn’t look at her. He didn’t much care to.

“I’m a little preoccupied at the moment,” he muttered. He reached out, right hand trembling, and slipped his fingers with Qrow’s. Lifted the hand to press his lips to the knuckles, then lowered it back down. Too vulnerable, especially with Glynda in the room, but he couldn’t help it. God help him, his heart _hurt_ from seeing Qrow like this.

How did people survive feeling like this everyday? Never knowing if their hunter partners would come home safely, or at all? James had been there when everything happened, and he didn’t know if that made it better or worse. Qrow was alive, thankfully, but how long until James knew the extent of the damage? How long until they knew if Qrow’s mind had survived alongside his body?

How many people never knew what happened to their partners? How many were left to wonder, forever, what had become of them?

In some ways, James was very lucky. In others, he was the unluckiest man alive.

“James.” Glynda’s voice was firm. “Look at me.”

With great reluctance and hesitation, James did.

She looked her usual self, though a touch more tired than the last time he’d seen her, and James gritted his teeth, angry that she could be fine after all that had happened. But, when he went to look away, he caught something else in her green gaze. Something soft and sad behind the professional walls. It was the only imperfection in her otherwise immaculate appearance.

“You need to stop this,” she said. “You’re going to worry yourself to death.”

James scowled. “And I suppose you can’t take me to trial if I’m dead?” He shook his head. “You’re supposed to be my friend, Glynda.”

“I am your friend,” protested Glynda. “But I also have a job, James, one that I’m supposed to perform perfectly.”

James narrowed his eyes, trying to keep his voice down. “And that gives you the right to supersede people’s feelings?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Glynda, voice tight.

“You didn’t ask me how I was,” said James, his voice dropping low. He looked back at Qrow and at the machines tracking his vitals as he healed. “After everything that happened yesterday, after seeing me with Qrow in a _coma_ today, and you don’t even ask me how I’m doing.” His gaze went back to Glynda, who leaned back in her seat, eyes growing wide.

“James, I…”

“I don’t want to hear it,” said James. “You’re supposed to be my friend, Glynda, one of my closest friends, at that, but you came here to deliver a sentence, not to see if Qrow and I were all right.” He turned his attention back to Qrow. “Frankly, I don’t care what you have to say today, Glynda. And I’d appreciate it if you left.”

There was a moment of silence, then, “Fine.” Glynda stood and walked out of the room, her high heels marking her departure. Once James was sure she was gone, he rested his head on Qrow’s bed and let the tears prickle the corners of his eyes.

Neo and Qrow were safe, but at what cost?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love!


	25. Shatter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little later in the day than usual, but I still got it up!

James couldn’t stay in the hospital forever. Logically, he knew this, but it was still with great reluctance that he left that night, long after visiting hours had ended. The staff were more than willing to look the other way and let him stay, but James knew he’d regret it if he spent a night in one of these chairs. With everything else going on, he didn’t want to also be full of muscle aches and kinks. It wouldn’t do well if he looked more injured than he already was. The Council might try and make the argument for James to return to Atlas, without Qrow, without the rest of his students, and without his peace of mind.

That simply wasn’t acceptable. So, instead of dealing with all of that, James left the hospital that night and stumbled into his guest apartment in Beacon Academy. He stared at the apartment, his eyes sliding over the glasses that still rested on the table. They’d have left rings on the surface by now. James didn’t care.

He walked passed the kitchen, ignoring Qrow’s scythe, and into the bedroom, his eyes falling on the mused bed. He hadn’t slept in it since Qrow was last there. He’d dozed on the couch in the intermittent.

Four days. James put his head in his hands and took a deep breath, his entire body shivering with exhaustion and anxiety. God, he wanted nothing more than to wrap himself around Qrow and sleep for a month. But neither half of that option was possible at the moment.

Instead, he settled for stripping out of his uniform and collapsing into bed in nothing but his boxer shorts. After a moment, James reached over to Qrow’s side of the bed and grabbed his pillow. He drew it close and buried his face in it, breathing in the smell of Qrow – musk and James’ soap mixed with a bit of whiskey. There, in the empty warmth of his bed, surrounded by the smell of a man he’d almost witnessed die that day, he fell into uneasy sleep.

* * *

 

James drifted in and out of sleep for a few hours, his dreams replaying the events of the last two months over and over in his mind. The proposal, the kiss, the warehouse – both warehouses. How close together had they been? Taurus and Ruby and Penny and Winter and lying.

And Qrow. Always Qrow. Every single thought spinning back to Qrow sooner or later until James thought he must have been going out of his mind.

Then there was a sound.

It took James a moment to understand what had happened. He thought the noise had come from his own mind, wrapped up in its dreams as he was, but, after a moment, he realized that the sound was from the kitchen. James pushed himself upright, rubbing at his bleary eyes as he stumbled upright. Long-sleeved shirt, pants, then out into the kitchen to see what the hell was going on.

There, he saw Ozpin leaning over the sink, wiping off the two glasses that James had so carefully maintained over the last four days.

“What the hell are you doing?” asked James. His steps took him across the room, anger digging into his veins and sending a headache up behind his eyes. Exhaustion clung to his bones and made his vision clumsy, but the rest of him was sure. He snatched the glasses out of Ozpin’s hands and yanked them close, only for them both to slip from his sleep clumsy fingers.

Both shattered as they hit the floor, James and Ozpin jumping back as the glass flew in all directions. James swore under his breath, fear clinging hard to his mind and his tongue.

“No,” he breathed, eyes growing wide. The glasses were gone. The last physical evidence of the night he’d shared with Qrow, of the last moment when things between them were fine, was gone. The glass lay shattered on the floor, dozens if not hundreds of shards of varying sizes lay between James and Ozpin.

Ozpin grabbed a dish towel.

“What…,” James’ voice cracked, “what are you doing?”

Ozpin looked up at him. “Cleaning up the glass.” The words were so sure that James gritted his teeth, leaned over the space, and snatched the towel clean from Ozpin’s hands.

“This isn’t your apartment,” said James, struggling not to work his jaw. He ground his teeth together, the motion driving his headache higher until it made his vision spot for a few seconds before winding down to cling to the sides of his head and behind his eyes. “Why are you here?”

Ozpin looked from the glass, to James, and then sighed quietly. James wanted to punch him. Why was he here? What did he want?

Why couldn’t people just leave him _alone_ for once?

“The Council called,” said Ozpin, after a moment. “They wanted to talk to you.”

“So you broke into my apartment to tell me?” asked James. He growled low in this throat, fists clenched around the dish towel. “A likely story.” James ground his teeth together, forcing the headache and pounding at his every inch back for a few more seconds. “First Glynda, now you. Always about the Council.” He couldn’t think straight, couldn’t clear his head long enough to organize his thoughts and figure out how to tell Ozpin to get out of his damn apartment.

The shattered glass lay on the tiled floor, staring up at him with all the judgement in the universe. It asked him what he was going to do. It mocked him for letting it go this long. He was supposed to be strong. He was the General of Atlas.

And yet here he was, brought to pieces by a bad night’s sleep and a pair of shattered glasses.

“I told them you were recovering from the mishap,” said Ozpin, smoothly. He glanced down at the shattered glass and frowned. “If they think you’re injured, they’ll try and argue for your return to Atlas.”

“I know.”

“They won’t let you take Qrow with you.”

“I know.”

“It could mean the end of your marriage.”

“ _I know._ ” James growled out the last words, glaring at Ozpin with everything he had. His vision spun, his body ached. He wanted nothing more than to lay back down and drift off to sleep. To forget that this week had happened and go back to the way things had been before then. But then, that was before his revelation. Before he knew how he felt about Qrow. If he went back, would he ever know? Or would he be forced to live in limbo, never knowing while simultaneously knowing he once had?

If only time travel were possible.

If only he hadn’t ruined everything.

Ozpin sighed and pushed up his glasses. “I see.” There was a long pause. “How’re you feeling?” Ozpin’s words were soft and quiet, a contrast to the quiet judgement that had lingered in their voice beforehand.

“Fine,” said James, tightly. He pinched the bridge of his nose and took a breath. His entire world tilted on its axis, threatening to send him toppling over the end into unending anger. Half of him wanted to shake Ozpin, the other half wanted to disappear back into the comforting darkness of sleep. Even if his dreams were haunted by memories of things he no longer had, or maybe never did at all.

“That seems likely,” said Ozpin, drily. James shot him a glare, grinding his teeth as he did so. “Forgive me, but…”

“No.”

Ozpin frowned, brow furrowing as he looked at James, head cocked to one side. “Pardon?”

“No,” said James, again, slightly louder, “I won’t forgive you. You and Glynda are a real piece of work, you know that? Everything I’ve been through in the last week and no one tries to help, no one checks in, no one wants to know how I’m doing, what happened to Qrow – anything.” He shook his head and stepped back, stomach churning.

“I just asked,” said Ozpin.

James narrowed his eyes. “Because you care, or because it’s polite?”

Ozpin said nothing.

James scoffed. “I thought as much.”

“James.”

“Ozpin.” James’ voice was hard, Ozpin’s exasperated. “If all you wanted to tell me was that the Council wants my head on a silver platter, then you can leave. Glynda already told me as much.” He flexed his right hand, hot humiliation from his lack of glove and lack of composure burning him up from the inside out. It was in vain that he tried to keep his anger in check, but still, he tried.

It would have been so, _so_ easy to reach out and throw Ozpin out of his apartment by force. No more than a few seconds. Then he’d be free to wallow and hide, to wait until this all blew over and he could be beside Qrow until Qrow was on his feet again.

“You can’t keep hiding,” said Ozpin. He folded his arms across his chest, a defensive gesture if James ever saw one. “You have responsibilities, James: children, students, a kingdom. You cannot simply hide here and pretend everything is fine.”

James ground his teeth together. What did Ozpin know? He spent all his time hiding in that damned tower of his. He probably didn’t even know what Atlas looked like right now.

“The Council – _Schnee_ – wants to take control of the academy so long as you are here.” Ozpin locked eyes with James, and never before had their two-inch height difference – James taller, Ozpin shorter – been so pronounced. Ozpin, for all his posturing and power, was _tiny_ next to James. But then, most people were. “They’re claiming you’re unfit to run your armies and your school.” Ozpin’s gaze swept across James. “Based on what I’m seeing before me, I’m inclined to agree with them.”

James growled low in this throat, his hands clenched at his sides. “What do you know? I have every reason to be upset right now.”

“Perhaps,” said Ozpin. “But if you fall to pieces every time someone you care about gets hurt, then you’re no better than the children entering your school.” Ozpin’s eyes were ice – cold, unforgiving, and resistant.

“That is not even _remotely_ true,” snapped James. He went to take a step forward, saw the glitter of the shattered glass, and retreated.

Ozpin stepped over the glass, less than a foot from James as he scowled up at James. “Put yourself back together, help your children, and get this mess sorted before I have to report it to the Council.”

“You wouldn’t. You hate them more than I do,” said James.

A shadow went across Ozpin’s eyes. “If it keeps your students safe, then I’ll swallow my tongue and my pride.”

James bared his teeth, taking half a step forward to force Ozpin back. Broken glass and bare feet be damned; he didn’t want Ozpin in his face right now. Not after everything the other headmaster had done to him lately. “You can’t possibly believe that I’m putting my students in danger.”

“Your students?” asked Ozpin, voice raising. “How about all students? You sent _children_ into an active territory war! You sent _untrained children_ to fight the White Fang.” Ozpin shook his head, looking incredulous. “Now one of them is missing, another has lost an arm, and the rest are traumatized at _best,_ if not outright terrified of what happened.”

James faltered. Had he really done that to those children? Had he really put them in danger, blindly, without realizing the consequences of his actions? They were hurting and he hadn’t even checked in on anyone outside of Yang. He’d been too wrapped up in his own problems. In Qrow.

“I thought you were a great leader, James, but I cannot stand idly by while you put children in danger,” said Ozpin, his voice hard. He swallowed visibly. “I cannot condone what you did.”

Those last words unlocked what was left of James’ anger, leaving him growling at Ozpin again. “What _I_ did?” And there it was, burning him up from the inside out. “You’re the one who instigated this whole mess. If Qrow and I were never involved, he never would have been in this mess. The territory war could have been solved properly and we would have been free to protect our students however we saw fit.” He stabbed a finger at Ozpin, who took another half-step back. “This is as much your fault as it is mine.”

Ozpin glared. So did James. The anger between them threatened to ignite the very apartment they stood in.

“I thought I was doing the right thing,” said Ozpin, softly.

“And I thought you were a good man,” replied James, most of the bite gone from his voice.

Ozpin’s lips twisted into a self-deprecating grimace. “Well,” he muttered. “Lucky for you, I’m neither.” With that, Ozpin shoved passed James and headed for the door to his apartment. There, he paused and said, “I suggest you sort this out, James. If you can’t put yourself back together, I _will_ report you to the Council.”

And then he was gone, leaving James to wallow in his own thoughts and frustration.

After a moment, James looked down at the broken glass and sighed. He left the kitchen to go get a broom.

As much as he hated to admit it, Ozpin had been slightly, _slightly,_ correct. He did need to fix this. And all that started with him cleaning up this glass. If he could do that, then he could take a shower and get dressed. He could face the Council, apologize, and figure out what to do after that.

All that started with him sweeping up the glass.

All that started with him accepting that there was no going back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love!


	26. Goodbye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things just keep getting worse.

James was fairly certain, in that way one could be certain about emotions in inanimate objects, that the elevator leading up to Ozpin’s office was judging him. It was easier, James thought, to believe it was the elevator judging him, rather than trying to face the unfortunate truth that he was, quite simply, absolutely terrified of what laid beyond the elevator.

Not the office. Not Ozpin. But the desk, the holoscreen, the Council. The Atlesian Council wanted to speak to him first, but James knew the Vale Council wanted to speak with him as well. As well as Ozpin, Glynda, most of the Beacon staff, probably quite a few concerned parents, oh, and probably the students he’d accidentally traumatized.

James sighed and let his head fall against the metal of the doors. All he had to do was push a button, just one button, and the doors would slide open. From there, he could ride up to the office, sit down in the desk, and start the process.

Saying he didn’t want to would be putting it lightly. If he could avoid this for the rest of his life, he probably would. But he couldn’t, not if he wanted to ensure his people, his family, his _students_ , were safe. So instead of hiding, which was becoming more and more appealing by the minute, James pushed the button and stepped into the elevator.

The ride up was over far too quickly for his liking. Thankfully, the office on the other side of the doors was empty. James fiddled with his scroll, holding it awkwardly in his left hand instead of in his right. He worried he’d crush it in his right.

The desk chair loomed, almost mocking him for his cowardice. All his life, James had prided himself on his courage, his bravery, his ability to stand tall and handle the toughest of situations. But that was all before he’d sent first years into a war zone, all before he’d allowed his emotions to control his actions.

The Council was going to have his head and, quite frankly, James didn’t blame them for it. He deserved it. He deserved almost anything they could throw at him.

That didn’t mean he was going to take it, however. He still had business in Vale. He wouldn’t let them take him from this place.

Taking a deep breath, James circled the desk and sat down in the, surprisingly comfortable, high-back desk chair. James hummed to himself. Perhaps Ozpin also had back problems? That would explain the chair.

He was stalling.

He knew he was stalling. That didn’t mean he wanted to stop.

With a quiet sigh, James set his scroll on the desk, tapped the “call” function on one of the screens, and took a deep breath.

The Council picked up on the third ring. James supposed it was too much to ask for them to not be available.

“Council,” said James, smoothly. “I’ve been told you’ve been trying to get in contact with me?”

One of the councilmen nodded. James couldn’t remember his name. It might have been Ginger. Or Louis. Or Timber.

Something like that, anyway.

“For the past twenty-four hours,” said the councilman, scowling. “You’re a difficult man to get a hold of, General.”

James nodded, keeping both his tone and his expression neutral. “Forgive me,” he said. “I’ve been… preoccupied.”

“We noticed,” said one of the councilwoman. James was almost certain her name had something to do with the colour green. Aloe? Chartreuse? Broccoli?

She had the hair to be a Broccoli.

…In fairness, he was exhausted. A week without proper sleep did that to a person. Especially one who’d been through as much as James, as of late. God, he just wanted this to be over with. He wanted to curl up with Qrow and sleep. But he couldn’t sleep. Not when things went to hell every time he did, and not when there was so much to be done.

“There’s been a lot happening in Vale, as of late,” said James. He wondered if the Council was purposely making this awkward by drawing out their interactions. Based on his experience with them, it was more than likely. “I haven’t had a chance to check in.”

“Yes,” said the woman who may have been Broccoli. James wondered if a good night’s rest would let him remember their names. Or if he simply didn’t care enough to try.

Both were likely. He wasn’t sure which one would win out, if he were honest.

“We wanted to talk to you about the recent activity in Vale,” said a third councilman. “We have been informed that your… _husband_ ,” James didn’t like the way the man sneered when he said the word, “was injured.”

James nodded. “He’s recovering well.” _Lie._ “We expect him to be back on his feet in a few days.” _Lie._ “Nothing to worry about. I’ve got everything handled here.” _Massive lie._

“I’m sure,” said Broccoli – he sincerely hoped that was her name. “However, from what the Vale Council has told us, it seems you’ve recruited students into your crusade against a terrorist organization?”

_Lie._ “The White Fang is a non-entity in the city of Vale at the moment, Council. Just a minor faction causing trouble in the aftermath of the fall of the arena,” said James. He wasn’t sure he could convince them of that, but the news wasn’t reporting anything properly. So long as Ozpin and those involved hadn’t spoken of it, the Atlesian Council could be fooled.

“You’re certain?” asked the first councilman.

“Yes.” _No._ James kept his expression professional and neutral.

“And your students, will you be joining them back in Atlas?” asked Broccoli.

James shook his head. “I’m afraid not. I still have business to attend in Vale, not to mention my husband is currently in the hospital. I believe it is in my best interests to stay in Vale for the time being.”

“Mm,” said the second councilwoman. She steepled her hands and eyed James above them. “If you are certain. However, that does leave the matter of the academy and the military. They seem to be struggling a great deal in your absence.” She glanced at the others. “We’ve spoken to Mr. Schnee…”

James felt himself pale. No. If Schnee…

“On second thought,” said James, cutting off the councilwoman. “I’d be happy to return to Atlas for a short time to sort out everything.” Even as he said the words, he regretted them. They tumbled, bitter and burning, from his lips and into open air, branding him with a decision he couldn’t change. It was this, or Schnee, he reminded himself.

He needed to keep his job.

He needed to keep his people safe.

“Perfect,” said Broccoli in a voice that was too cheerful for such a name. If that was her name. “You’ll be headed out tonight. I suggest you say your goodbyes.” The sickeningly sweet perkiness in her voice had James rigid and on edge.

“I will be returning,” said James, firmly. “Just as soon as everything is sorted.”

The first councilman hummed. “Yes,” he said. “Just as soon as everything is sorted.” There was something in the way he said it, and something in the way the others looked at him, that made James swallow.

He had a feeling there was about to be a lot to sort in Atlas.

“We’ll see you soon,” said the second councilman. Before James could say goodbye, they hung up, and James was left staring at the blank holoscreens.

He put his head in his hands and took a deep breath, closing his eyes. He knew, deep down, that there was no other choice, that the Council was forcing his hand to get what they wanted from him. He also knew, deep down, that his students were worth more than the life of a single man. Choosing between the two shouldn’t have been a contest and, in the end, it really wasn’t.

He was the General of Atlas. His entire life was built around protecting, training, and watching over the people of Atlas, soldier and civilian alike. His own wants and needs weren’t a factor. The people needed him more than James could ever want or need anything else.

The needs of the many and all that.

With a sigh, James made the call to the Vale Council. He had to talk to them before he left. It was only proper.

He only had a few hours before it was time for him to leave and there were still a lot of things to sort. Ozpin, Glynda, the Vale Council. Probably Taiyang.

Qrow.

James closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He could handle this. He had to.

* * *

 

Packing was methodical, perhaps only because it had to be. James folded his clothing, set it in his suitcase, and let his mind remain blank. He’d called the Vale Council. He’d listened to them yell. He’d said his piece.

They would let it slide, this time, if only because none of the students he’d been with had come forward.

Quietly, James had whispered thank you to those students, after the call. If they’d said something, anything, he may have lost his job. But they’d protected him, even if he hadn’t protected them.

James’ hands stilled on the suitcase. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Guilt flooded his senses, but he bit it back. A guilt complex was the last thing he needed at the moment, especially when he was trying to avoid thinking about what he was leaving behind in Vale.

Beacon, the students, Taiyang. _Qrow._ Penny was in Atlas. Winter was staying in Vale on orders from the Atlas Council. The people he considered family were divided, and there was nothing he could do about it. All he could do were follow orders he thought he was above, and pray he ended up back in Vale before Qrow woke up.

James sighed and lowered his head, staring at his mismatched hands on the suitcase. He flexed them, not quite absently, remembering the feel of Qrow beneath them. A hand on his back, on his shoulders, on his cheek. Little gestures that were different across hands, but universal in their meaning.

He didn’t know when, or if, he’d get that feeling back.

A quiet beeping pulled James from his self-deprecating thoughts and he glanced to his scroll. Winter’s icon was there, looking up at him expectantly. James reached toward his scroll to answer the call, and hesitated. With a quiet sigh, he tapped ‘reject call’ and watched the screen go dark once more.

He couldn’t deal with her right now. Winter was like a daughter to him, and he’d do anything for her, but he couldn’t deal with her questions, not right now. Not when he had enough problems to deal with on his own.

James finished packing in silence, methodically folding his clothes, setting them in the suitcase, and double checking the creases. The apartment was too empty. The bedroom was too empty. Qrow’s laughter, Qrow’s sarcasm, Qrow’s _everything_ was missing.

The scythe still rested against the fridge. James knew he had to take it down to Qrow’s bedside. Or else somewhere else, where it might be found by Qrow.

Would Qrow be allowed to keep this apartment, once James was gone? Would he be placed somewhere else, if he woke up while James was in Atlas? James didn’t know.

There were too many variables, too many aspects he couldn’t control. He wanted to control everything, but he couldn’t even control himself, these days.

James took a deep breath, steeled himself, and walked out of the bedroom, out of the apartment, and down toward the infirmary.

It was time to say goodbye.

The walk down to the infirmary was long and silent. James’ uneven footfalls echoed in the empty hallways. What students were left in Beacon were probably outside, enjoying the weather, or else spending time together. They were children, with friends, families, and teams. They had all the time in the world to enjoy themselves, before they had to discover the cruelties of Remnant.

It was an ignorance that James was oft jealous of, but not one he could willfully wish upon himself. If only because it would mean someone else would take his burden, someone else would know these cruelties.

James could handle it. He always had.

The infirmary was mostly empty, apart from the handful of beds that were filled in the various rooms. Faintly, James could hear the sounds of Taiyang and Ruby in Yang’s room. The two of them spoke in tones too hushed for James to make out. He didn’t stop at the room, simply kept on, silently, until he pushed open the door to Qrow’s.

The sight that greeted him was the same one he’d walked away from. Qrow on a ventilator, the soft huffs of his breathing fogging the mask. Qrow, hooked up to IV drips and machines that monitored him. Qrow, bandaged, bruised, and burned. Qrow, unconscious and unmoving.

James took a deep breath and took the seat next to Qrow’s head. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and putting his face in his hands.

God, how was he supposed to walk away from this? Qrow was hurt, because of him. Qrow was in pain, because of him. James didn’t want to think of how Qrow would react if he woke up and James was gone.

Perhaps he could leave a message with Winter, but that required him to speak with Winter, and for she and Qrow to get along long enough for her to pass on such a message. James didn’t think either was possible.

“I don’t know what to do,” whispered James. He lowered his hands from his face and looked at Qrow, eyes soft and shoulders slumped. It was the first time he’d spoken the words aloud in quite some time. They weren’t words he wanted to think about, nor words he wanted to speak. But he had to.

“This entire time, whenever things went to hell, you were there to show me the way,” said James. His voice was impossibly soft in the room, just barely audible above the heartrate monitor. “But now, you’re not here, and I’m drowning, Qrow.”

He closed his eyes and hung his head, taking a deep breath. “I know Atlas needs me, but so do you. And…” He looked back at Qrow. “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, I can’t stay when I know my people will suffer for it,” he murmured. He reached out and laced his hand – his flesh hand – with Qrow’s. “I only hope you’ll understand.”

Qrow didn’t respond.

James hadn’t expected him too.

James drew Qrow’s hand up to his lips and pressed a kiss to the knuckles. “I love you,” whispered James. His heart panged as he spoke the words aloud. “And I can only hope that next time I say those words, you’ll be awake to hear them.”

He stared there for a few minutes, not saying anything, simply holding Qrow’s hand and clinging to the warmth beneath his fingers.

Eventually, he got to his feet. Eventually, he leaned over and pressed a kiss to Qrow’s forehead, smoothing back his bangs. Eventually, he picked up his bag and headed out the door.

He hesitated, one last time, his hand on the door frame.

“Please be safe,” whispered James, even though he knew Qrow couldn’t hear him.

And with that said, James turned and left the room, and the infirmary. His ship would be there in less than an hour.

It was time to head back to Atlas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love!


	27. Alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeaaaah. So. This one got away from me.
> 
> Oh well.

A thousand memories fell past him, swirling around and around until they all bled together until Qrow couldn’t tell the true from the false. Images of James, images of the girls, images of Taiyang, they all bled together and Qrow was left drowning in his own mind until he was certain that he’d never surface again.

James laughed and rested his forehead against Qrow’s, his smile brilliant and bright against the darkness that engulfed Qrow. But the light faded, and the darkness grew, and Qrow was alone.

Alone in the darkness. Alone in the memories.

They swallowed him whole again.

It went on like that, drifting from memory to memory, person to person. Images of his time in Beacon Academy came forth, showing brighter days before the weight of the world sunk into them all and left them scrambling. Images of Ruby and Yang through their lives swirled after that. Brighter times, happier days, the quiet nights where he and Taiyang were each other’s only comfort.

But the darkness always lingered, just out of sight, swallowing whole anything Qrow tried to latch on to.

He was lost. Lost and alone.

On and on, until Qrow thought he would never be free.

There was something else in the darkness, lingering just out of his awareness. Something persistent and rhythmic, like the beating of a heart. One beep, then two, then three. And on and on.

He tried to latch onto it, counting the beeps, but the beeps turned and counted out his memories.

One.

He and James, sitting together one night at a bar, laughing at old stories. The pain in Qrow’s heart as he realized what he felt for James. The vow to forget it forever.

Two.

Ruby’s thirteenth birthday. Building her scythe. The pride in knowing that she would one day surpass his own skill and take on the world.

Three.

Summer. Raven. Taiyang. The four of them on a stage for graduation, accepting Ozpin’s praises as he congratulated them on being the top team in Beacon history.

Four.

Arguments. Drinks. A night cloaked partially in darkness – no, _don’t let the darkness in_ – but sweet and pleasurable all the same.

Five.

Qrow opened his eyes.

The first thing he noticed was that the ceiling was fucking bright. The second thing he noticed was that the beeping came from a machine off to his side. The third thing he noticed, with a growing sense of trepidation, was that he was alone.

Qrow took a deep breath and pushed himself upright. His muscles screamed at him, protesting the use after so long – _how long_ – stationary. But he forced himself upright and scooted back to lean against his pillows.

This was definitely a room in the Beacon infirmary. He’d been here a hundred times, though he hadn’t been in the beds since he’d been a student himself. He couldn’t say he’d missed it.

Qrow licked his lips, grimacing at the dryness of his mouth. He rubbed a hand across his face and found his scruff a lot longer than he preferred it. Damn, how long had he been out? What the hell had happened?

He remembered James rescuing him and Neo, remembered Taurus and his remote, then…

“Yang.” Qrow’s voice was garbled and scratchy against the dryness of his mouth and he grimaced again. Shit, where was everyone? Where was Yang?

God, why wasn’t James here?

Qrow looked around and spotted his scroll on the bedside table. He tapped it and scrolled through his contacts. Tapped James’ icon.

One, two, three rings. Then to message. Qrow frowned. All right, he hadn’t been expecting that, but he could live. James was probably just busy. There had to be a hell of a fallout after everything that had gone down in the last week… or was it weeks? How long had he been out? He couldn’t expect James to cling to his bedside on the off-chance that Qrow would wake up in that moment.

Qrow tapped Tai’s icon next. On the second ring, Tai picked up.

“Qrow!” The energy in his voice washed away most of his worries. But Qrow didn’t recognize where Tai was. “Hang on a minute.” Then he hung up. Qrow frowned. What…?

Less than thirty seconds later, the door to his room opened, and Taiyang stood there, grinning with all the force of a summer sun.

“When did you get here?” asked Qrow, his eyes growing wide. Taiyang crossed the room quickly and threw his arms around Qrow, hugging him tight enough that Qrow worried he was going to crack a rib. “Can you teleport now?”

“No,” said Taiyang, sounding a little misty. He took a deep breath against Qrow’s shoulders and sighed softly. “I got here a couple days ago. Ruby called. She was worried.” He pulled back, holding Qrow by the shoulders, and grinned at him. “I’m so glad you’re okay.” Even with the grin, Qrow could see the worry in the pull of his lips and in his eyes.

God, what the hell had Taiyang been through.

“Me too,” said Qrow. He looked around Taiyang toward the door, lips pressed together. “So, uh, is James around?”

Taiyang’s expression faltered. He looked away from Qrow, his hands falling to his sides. “Qrow, he…” His eyes darted back up to Qrow’s. “He’s gone.”

“…What?” asked Qrow, voice barely above a whisper.

Taiyang nodded, his lips pressed together and his expression downcast. “He went back to Atlas. The country needs him, Qrow.”

_I need him_ , Qrow didn’t say. Why would James leave? Even if he led Atlas, he could do it from Vale – he’d been doing it for months. Had he just been looking for an excuse to leave Qrow?

But then, why rescue Qrow at all?

But then, he’d said they needed to talk. Maybe he’d wanted to break up the sham early. Maybe he’d been sick of the lies. Maybe…

Maybe he’d never cared at all.

“Qrow…” Taiyang reached out and Qrow shrugged him off. He shoved himself out of bed and leaned heavily on the table next to it. Taiyang tried to steady him, but Qrow shrugged him off again. He straightened up and glared at Taiyang, panic and pain interlacing in his mind.

“Qrow.”

“Fuck off,” he snapped. He glared at Taiyang, shoving a finger at him. Grateful for the inch he had on Tai. “You could’ve stopped him.”

“I…”

Qrow shoved past him, ignoring the way Taiyang stumbled and fell onto the bed, and pushed out the door. He walked, entire body tense and one hand on the wall to steady himself, all the way up to the apartment he and James shared – or had shared. He didn’t know anymore.

The door was locked when Qrow tried it. He cursed and slammed his fist against it. Closed his eyes and leaned against it. Damn it. _Fuck_. What was he going to do now? Taiyang could have broken it down. So could Yang.

… _Yang._ Qrow’s breath went out of him all at once and his eyes flew open. What had happened to Yang? Taiyang hadn’t said anything, so she had to be okay, right? But she’d lost an arm. Qrow had seen her lose an arm. And maybe Taiyang hadn’t gotten the chance. Maybe Qrow’s frustrations had simply overwhelmed him. Maybe…

Maybe he’d been selfish.

_Shit._ What was he supposed to do? Go back? Check on her? No. He had to know what had happened with James. The apartment. Besides, there was no way Taiyang would let him into Yang’s room after that.

And Qrow wasn’t sure he could handle seeing her, or Taiyang, anyway.

Qrow chewed on the inside of his cheek. Stared at the lock a moment longer. He could make this work. He knew he had aura.

With a quiet huff of frustration, Qrow took the knob in one hand, pressed his other hand below it, and slammed the lock with all his might. There was a click, a crack, and then the door slid open, the knob busted along the edge.

Pleased for exactly one second, Qrow stepped into the apartment.

It was… barren. The furniture was still there, same with the linens, but everything that had made it personal – James’ work, scattered papers and dishes, a blanket over the back of the couch, Qrow’s clothes – was all gone. The entire apartment was sterile and impersonal but for one detail: Qrow’s scythe.

In the impersonal, stark white and chrome of the apartment, built for Atlas military and little else, Qrow’s scythe was the only thing out of place. It was almost funny, how true that was to his own life. In all of James’ connections, out of all of James’ friends, Qrow was the outlier. The scruffy, foul-mouthed, borderline alcoholic outlier.

Qrow stumbled into the apartment and collapsed onto the couch, putting his head in his hands.

He’d fucked things up with James again and again. A fake marriage, a too-close friendship, the drinking that had led to their night together, and every time James had had to patch Qrow up or pull him out of the line of fire. All of it all blurred into one horrific, unending memory. All of it blurred into the knowledge that his friendship with James, as much as Qrow enjoyed it, had been nothing but a plague on James’ status and James’ life.

And James had never been able to get out from under Qrow’s over the top, in your face nature. Not until Qrow had, quite literally, been out of commission for… god. Qrow didn’t even know how long it’d been.

Qrow cursed softly, fighting back tears. He wanted to find James. He wanted to ask how to fix this. But he knew there was no way to fix it, just as he knew that this – all of this – was all his fault.

“I suppose there’s no point in asking how exactly you got into a locked apartment without the key.” Qrow lifted his head from his hands and looked at the door. Standing there, with her arms folded under her chest, was Winter Schnee.

Qrow glared at her, aware of how haggard and on-edge he must look. “What do you want, ice queen?” asked Qrow. He couldn’t even make himself sound angry, just tired. He was so fucking _tired._

“He’s gone,” said Winter, casting her gaze around the apartment. “Because of you, I imagine.” Qrow ground his teeth together. “Not directly, of course, the Atlesian Council ordered him back.”

Qrow snapped to attention, his eyes going wide and mouth dropping open. “That who did what?” he asked, voice tight. “What did you just say?”

Winter shrugged, the gesture as callous as it was casual. “The Atlesian Council thought he was too _distracted_ ,” and oh, Qrow caught the sneer on that word, “in Vale to perform adequately. They ordered him back to Atlas several days ago.” She glared at Qrow, her gaze so icy that Qrow wondered how she didn’t freeze from it. “He never said his goodbyes to me, I had to learn this from the Council. I _imagine_ ,” and there was that sneer again, “that this is because of _you._ ”

Qrow growled low in his throat. “And what the hell is that supposed to mean?” he snapped.

Winter stepped into the apartment and stabbed a finger in his general direction. “Ever since that damned marriage of yours went public, he’s ignored me in favour of _you._ Heaven help me, I have no idea why. You’re insufferable, sloppy, lazy, not to mention completely under him in every way.” She ground her teeth together and Qrow’s jaw ached in sympathy. “I am his assistant, I am his friend, and I deserve better than to be shoved aside by some half-wit with more mouth then sense!”

Qrow stood, baring his teeth as he grinned harshly at Winter. “Just who the hell do you think you are, ice queen?”

“My name is Winter.”

“Yeah? Well, I don’t _fucking_ _care_ what your name is.” He got in her face, glaring down at her. Winter glared back, just as hard but twice as cold. Qrow kept his own glare heated from his anger. “You show up here thinking you’re better than me – you’re not. You Atlesian Specialists think you’re so damn special.”

“It’s in the title,” sneered Winter.

Qrow rolled his eyes. “That doesn’t mean you fucking deserve the metals on your god damn uniform, or the status you’ve got. James worked to be where he is – what did you do, bat your eyes daddy dearest and say ‘please’?”

“You have no idea what I’ve been through to get where I am,” said Winter. She shoved Qrow and he caught her hands, holding them together. Cold seeped into his bones but he couldn’t bring himself to care.

“And you think you know me?” asked Qrow. “You think getting where I am was easy?”

“You’re nothing more than a half-baked huntsman,” snapped Winter. She jerked her hands back from Qrow and glared at him. “And you are not even close to worthy of General Ironwood.”

“Jim-”

“It’s _James_.”

Qrow bared his teeth again. “You’re a complete bitch, you know that? God, it’s a wonder your own sister likes you.”

Winter jerked back like she’d been slapped. Qrow couldn’t find the energy to care.

“I may be a _bitch,_ ” hissed Winter, glaring at Qrow. “But at least I’m not some sorry excuse for a half-decent fuck, like _you._ ”

And oh, that one hurt. Especially after what James had said about his ass. And especially after they slept together and James had run off afterward. And that was the last thing they’d done together.

His pain must have shown on his face, because Winter’s glare morphed into a smug smirk.

“I knew you were nothing to him,” said Winter, voice low. “And I knew he’d drop you. I’m one of his closest companions, Qrow. If he didn’t tell me about your marriage, then he didn’t believe in it.” Winter tossed her bangs out of her eyes, looking smug. “Honestly, you should have seen this coming a long time off.”

With that, Winter turned on her heel and stalked out of the apartment, the sharp click-clacking of her heels the only sound apart from the impossible loudness of Qrow’s heartbeat. She slammed the door behind her, rattling the doorknob.

Qrow gave himself three breaths to try and calm himself. When that didn’t work, his entire body started to tremble. He collapsed onto the couch, curled himself into a ball, and sobbed into his hands.

Winter was right.

He’d never been anything to James. He didn’t know why he’d thought otherwise.

All it had gotten him was pain, suffering, and loss.

And now he was alone. And there was no coming back from it. God, he needed a drink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love!


	28. Fallout

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look it's a chapter without dialogue.
> 
> That's not foreboding at all.

Qrow fell. Into the bottom of a bottle, into his own mind, into the darkness that encroached on his every moment, his every memory. He fell, as far and as deep as he’d fallen since… since Summer died, and he didn’t know if he ever planned on surfacing. It was easier, in the darkness, easier, in the fog, easier, in the shadows of his own mind where no one else dared to come close.

It was easier, or so he told himself. Because no matter how drunk he got he couldn’t forget all that had transpired between himself in James. He couldn’t forget the way James used to curl up against him in sleep, nor the way James used to smile at him, when they were alone, nor the way he and James had fallen into one another so easily, despite the tensions that lingered from circumstance.

And he couldn’t forget that James had abandoned him, left him alone in the darkness, in the pain, just because he had to go back to Atlas. Maybe James had never cared. Maybe it was all a lie. But James always wore his heart on his sleeve, and Qrow had always been good at reading people. How much was truth, how much was fiction? Would he ever know?

James still wasn’t answering his scroll.

Qrow didn’t know why he kept calling. Wasn’t sure what he’d do if James actually picked up. He never left a message; always hung up before James’ military precision voicemail could get through the first sentence. He’d listened to it fully once. It didn’t sound like _his_ James. It sounded like Atlas’ James. The James he had never understood.

The James that had to exist, but didn’t want to. Qrow knew that now.

The Council wasn’t answering his calls either. Not that Qrow wanted them to. He didn’t leave messages with them either. Not because he didn’t want to – god, he would have torn them all into a thousand pieces, verbally, of course, if it meant getting James back – but because he couldn’t. He’d already caused enough damage in James’ life. He didn’t need to make things worse.

Qrow kept getting calls as well, but they were never from people he wanted to talk to. Glynda, once. Ozpin, another time. Taiyang, multiple times. Qrow had finally sent Taiyang a text to make sure Tai knew he was alive and not going to do something rash to get Taiyang to stop worrying.

He still worried. It was how he worked. But at least Qrow had ensured Taiyang wouldn’t worry himself half to death while he was dealing with Yang.

Yang.

She’d lost an arm and a partner all at once. Blake was gone, taken by Taurus, and no one had a clue where she went. Yang, awake now, was in premature mourning. It was probably a good idea to get started, thought Qrow, he’d seen what Taurus was capable of. Or at least, a small portion of it. He feared what would happen to Blake. It didn’t seem like anyone was closer to finding her.

Yang was lost to her own head, just like Qrow. Both of them had lost partners – and if there was a difference in the nature of the term, Qrow wasn’t sure anymore. How the hell any of them were supposed to recover, he didn’t know.

It was all a mess, an enormous, unsolvable mess that left him staring into glasses filled with whatever he could afford at the Crow Bar. It was better than being back in Beacon, in that damnable, empty apartment.

Ozpin had seen fit to leave Qrow in that apartment for now. Qrow wasn’t sure if it was a blessing or a curse.

The sheets still smelled like James’ aftershave.

Every morning, when Qrow woke up, there was always a moment where he half-forgot what had happened, and he imagined James was next to him, just a turn of his head away. Then, a moment later, Qrow would awaken properly and remember all that had transpired in the last few months.

It was those scant few seconds that were Qrow’s favourite part of the day. He often forced himself back to sleep in hopes of experiencing them again and again.

It never worked.

He never stopped trying.

Almost a week passed like that, of Qrow surviving on little else but alcohol and his own bitterness, of Qrow calling James without ever expecting a response, of Qrow avoiding calls from Glynda and Ozpin and, once, Winter. He didn’t know why Winter had called. Frankly, he didn’t care. After what she’d said to him, she could rot in hell.

Even if she was the reason Qrow knew the truth, or at least, part of it, about James’ departure. Even if she was the reason Qrow knew that James hadn’t just run from him.

He still could have. Qrow wasn’t sure. Why didn’t James call? Why didn’t he send word? Why didn’t he leave a note? If he’d just _talk_ to Qrow, then maybe Qrow could prove to himself that Winter’s original words – before the harsh and bitter fight – had been true. That the council had called James back.

And that maybe James still cared.

But James didn’t pick up and James didn’t appear on TV and James hadn’t left a message and James hadn’t done _any_ of the thousand tiny, miniscule things he could have done to prove he still cared about Qrow.

So Qrow was left alone, wondering if anything they’d had, if anything they’d done, had ever meant anything. Or if he’d just been a way for James to figure out what he liked and what he didn’t. If their night together had been a mistake, or if it was even remembered, or if it was just James wanting a decent fuck, as opposed to the intimacy Qrow had thought was there.

It wouldn’t be the first time that he’d thought something was there when the other person did not. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d cared for someone he couldn’t have.

It wouldn’t be the first time he’d been fucked by someone who wanted the sex, maybe for comfort, maybe for grounding, maybe for a thousand god forsaken reasons that had nothing to do with the actual intimacy behind it.

It was one thing to walk into a one night stand with no expectations – Qrow had had his fair share of them in his time as a huntsman. It was another thing entirely to walk into a completely different arrangement and be given the same kind of callous treatment.

Fuck James. Fuck Taiyang. Fuck James for not calling and Taiyang for calling too often. Fuck them both for everything they’d done to him and everything they hadn’t. And fuck them for never caring the way Qrow did.

Not even close.

God, he was such a mess.

Qrow curled up on the couch of the barren apartment, the blanket that smelled like James wrapped around his shoulders. There were empty bottles on the coffee table, pressing rings into their surface. An empty glass – a singular one – sat there as well. There was no need for a second one. There was no one to drink from a second one. No one to leave rings on the table with.

No one to say goodnight to.

So Qrow curled himself into the blanket on the couch and buried his face in it. He let the smell of James and the warmth of the blanket wash over him. And he ignored the whining of his scroll and the dinging of messages and the occasional knock on the door. Once, it had been Ruby, and he’d almost been tempted to open it and let her in.

But he was a mess and she had her father. She didn’t need him when Taiyang was around.

Qrow had never been anything but the stupid, drunken uncle. It went perfectly with being a stupid, drunken man.

Maybe Glynda was right. Maybe he was brainless. It fit, anyway. What with James being heartless and all.

* * *

 

There were fourteen missed calls on James’ scroll when he came to that morning. He wouldn’t call it waking up, not really. Not when he hadn’t slept to begin with. He’d dozed, in that way people dozed when they were so tired they couldn’t stay awake any longer. But it had been fitful and sparse at best. He’d woken feeling more tired than when he’d started, and he couldn’t bear to check if he had any messages.

Six of the calls were from Glynda. Two were from Ozpin. Two were from the Council. Three were from Taiyang. The last, and the one that made the bottom of James’ stomach drop out, was from Qrow.

His thumb hesitated, hovering and quivering above the ‘redial’ button. He wanted nothing more than to hear Qrow’s voice, than to tell him everything was fine and they could be together soon. But it wasn’t that simple. The Council was riding him and James couldn’t afford to be distracted. No matter how much he wanted to speak with Qrow, he was almost positive the Council was tracking his calls. If they knew he was slacking, they’d go to Schnee.

He had no choice. He had to keep working.

With a sigh, James tossed his Scroll back onto the bed and fell back with a quiet groan. He wanted to sleep, but he couldn’t; he wanted a break, but he knew one didn’t exist; he wanted Atlas to be safe again, not just for the people, but for him. He needed something, anything, in his life to go right.

Nothing had gone his way in weeks. He wasn’t sure how much more he could take.

James pushed himself back upright and picked up his Scroll, shoving it into the pocket of his sweatpants before he shuffled out into his living room to make coffee.

His room was more personal than the one he’d had at Beacon, but, despite this one’s pictures and personal effects, it felt barren and empty in a way the other one hadn’t.

It was lacking something, or, rather, _someone_ , to make it a home. And no amount of photographs or well placed throw pillows could change the fact that he was alone in this grand apartment, with not even a cat to keep him company.

If he’d been allowed to see Penny, it would have been different, but the Council had cut him off from her as well. ‘Unnecessary distractions’ they’d said, ‘Atlas needs a lot of work’. Frankly, James wanted nothing more than to tell the Council off and go see his goddaughter. But he couldn’t. There was work to be done.

The needs of the many, and all that.

James flicked on the coffee pot and pulled up his email, scanning for important ones from the Council. There was one. When he opened it, he was faced with a massive to-do list – all of the things the Council wanted him to do before he would be permitted to leave Atlas once more. It had to be longer than his arm, despite the small text, and it had only gotten longer since he’d arrived. Every time James had crossed one thing on the list, two more seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

If he were in better spirits, he might have compared such tactics to that of a fairy tale beast of his childhood. But he wasn’t, so instead he simply sighed, looked at the next item on the list, and kept going.

Today, the Council wanted him in the labs, working on the new plate armour for the Paladins. The last series hadn’t been up to par for what they wanted, despite James testing it personally, and they’d run his last three through simulated battles while he’d been away. Each one had been destroyed in battle, leaving James with having to build new test models from scratch.

It was a massive undertaking, and the entire reason why he didn’t let the Paladins be destroyed in training to begin with. But the Council apparently hadn’t known that – or at least they didn’t care – and so James was left with having to build them all from scratch all over again.

It would have been easier with a partner. It would have been easier if he wasn’t alone. It would have been easier if Qrow…

James sighed and poured his coffee. _Qrow._ Best not to think about him. Best not to think about anything at all like that. All he wanted was to get this list done and save his kingdom. There was nothing wrong with that. And if he was avoiding calls and avoiding people and avoiding everything that wasn’t work, well, who would blame him? He was an Atlesian General, after all. He had a great deal of work to do.

But that didn’t change that James’ eyes lingered on the worn spines of books in his bookcases as he wondered if Qrow would be fond of his favourite childhood author, Artemis Green. Nor did it change that James often wondered how Qrow would fix something, when he came across a broken piece of machinery in his labs. Nor did it change the thousand tiny details of Atlas and the labs that made James think of Qrow, no matter how desperately he tried to get the other man out of his head.

Nothing worked for long. Not sleep deprivation, not coffee, nothing. James was half-tempted to drown himself in alcohol and see if that worked, but it wasn’t worth the blow to his productivity.

The sooner he got this done, the sooner he would be free. It didn’t matter if he knew the Council was making up seemingly impossible tasks to keep James in isolation. It didn’t matter that his vision spotted and his voice was nearly gone and everything ached and groaned if he stayed still too long. It didn’t even matter that he hadn’t eaten properly since he’d gotten back, that he had over a hundred unopened voicemails, or that he was neglecting his appearance.

Nothing mattered but keeping Atlas safe. Nothing mattered but putting it back together. Nothing mattered but being the man he was supposed to be. Damn his feelings, damn his needs, damn his _everything._

He’d neglected Atlas for the sake of some fairy tale love affair that might never have even existed outside of his own mind. It was time he paid the price.

The needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few. And as James drank his coffee, he chanted that over and over in his mind, hoping that he’d be able to focus for a few weeks longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love!


	29. Message Erased

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -takes a deep breath-
> 
> -puts head in hands-
> 
> -screams for eternity-
> 
> I legitimately cried writing this. I'm actually sorry.

Qrow rolled his Scroll over and over in his hands, frowning. His mind was a thousand miles away, thinking about the past, present, and future as it scattered itself behind his eyes. Memories mixed with scenarios mixed with a thousand possibilities until Qrow wasn’t sure what was and wasn’t real. What was and wasn’t a memory and was and wasn’t just a dream, a hope, a nightmare. He wondered, idly, if he wanted to know. Sometimes, floating in possibility, as awful as that possibility was, was better than facing reality.

Or maybe that was the booze talking. Qrow had certainly drank a lot of it in the last few days. He was pretty sure his bloodstream was at least half alcohol at the moment. Maybe more. Maybe less.

Four missed calls. All from Taiyang. He’d listened to the messages. Tai was worried about him. Qrow wondered how much of that worry was his fault. Probably all of it. He didn’t know what else he was supposed to do.

_You could call James_ , he thought, the words digging deep into his mind and leaving him floundering. _And actually leave a voicemail_.

Qrow swallowed hard and turned the Scroll over in his hands again, thinking hard about what he was going to do next. He should call James. He should leave a message. But did that mean he was going to?

What was even the point, if James wouldn’t pick up his phone? He couldn’t talk to him, and who knew if James would even listen to the message if Qrow sent one in.

Still, maybe it was worth a shot. Maybe he could get through to James if he was just… honest. Tai had always said that honesty was the best policy, or something of the sort anyway. Maybe if he just tried, it would work.

Hell, nothing else he’d done lately had had any effect. He was about ready to try anything.

Besides, he’d seen James on the news over the last week. The guy looked dead. Bags under his eyes and too much stubble to call a five o’clock shadow. Qrow was scared of what was happening to him and what the Council was doing.

God, he just wanted to go to James, but he didn’t think he could even get in Atlas without causing an international incident right now. Not that James would even answer the door if he did show up.

His Scroll started buzzing and Qrow jumped, staring down at the little device as it buzzed in his hand. The screen shifted over to the ‘incoming call’ screen, showcasing Taiyang’s icon and name. Qrow pressed his lips together and stared at the call a moment longer. Then, with a quiet sigh and more than a touch of frustration, he tapped ‘deny call’ and watched the screen go dark.

“Not today, Tai,” he whispered. He looked around the apartment, eyes finding the little pieces of James that had been left behind. A beanie, a turtleneck, a blanket, a picture. Each of them carefully set out so that Qrow could keep them close. Maybe it was obsessive. Maybe it was unhealthy. He really didn’t care.

James hadn’t said goodbye. Qrow wasn’t ready to. Not yet.

He tapped his Scroll and pulled up James’ name. With a shaky breath and a shakier hand, Qrow tapped ‘call’ and held the Scroll to his ear.

_One ring._

Qrow took a breath and steadied himself.

_Two rings._

He wondered if James would pick up. If James would even care. If he’d just hit ‘deny call’ and leave Qrow to listen to a dial tone.

_Three rings._

This was a mistake, but he couldn’t back out now. A thousand thoughts swirled behind his mind, a thousand words settled at the tip of his tongue. He needed to get them out.

_Four rings._

James wasn’t going to pick up. The pit that formed in Qrow’s stomach shouldn’t have been there. This shouldn’t have been a surprise. But it was.

_Click._

Qrow sighed and listened to the message that he’d hated from the first time he’d heard it.

_“You’ve reached General Ironwood, Headmaster and military General of Atlas and Atlas Academy. If this is a business call, please redirect your call to my business line. If this is a personal call, please leave your name, contact information, and level of urgency in a message following the tone. Thank you.”_

Qrow grimaced. God, he hated that message.

The phone beeped.

Qrow took a deep breath and began to speak.

* * *

 

_“Hey, Jim, I know I probably should have left this message a while ago._ ”

James sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. His reading glasses slid down as he removed his hand and he pushed them back up to squint at the Scroll again. It was no use. The words refused to focus and he knew only sleep would bring them back into focus and rid him of the sandpaper scratch that had plagued every blink for hours now.

But he had too much work to do to sleep right now. So, instead, he turned his attention to a larger holoscreen on the wall, focusing on the blueprints that he was supposed to be editing. They, too, refused to focus, and James resigned himself to having to get up for at least a few minutes.

Perhaps coffee would help. It had gotten him through worse.

_“But I couldn’t bring myself to do it, you know? It felt too final. Like saying goodbye.”_

James waited for the coffee to percolate while he stared out the window onto the streets of Atlas. His office wasn’t as high as Ozpin’s, but it still afforded an incredible view of the kingdom he was supposed to be keeping safe. ‘Supposed to’ being the key words. He’d already fought with the Council twice this week about the amount of stress he was under. They insisted that his workload was too much for one person under the deadlines they’d set, and that he needed assistance.

It was and he did. But they wanted to pass off powers to Schnee and James couldn’t allow that. He needed to pull himself together and keep his kingdom. If Schnee got even a _taste_ for the power James wielded, he would never give it up.

James knew that, just as surely as he knew that the Council was purposely trying to make him crack.

He couldn’t let them win.

_“I wanted to tell you that I miss you and… I’m sorry. We both made some mistakes in this whole mess, but I pushed too far and I’m sorry.”_

James drank deeply from his third cup of coffee since he’d started brewing and studied the maps on his Scroll. There were a hundred variables in the upcoming winter season. Troops had to be relocated and replaced with Knights where possible, and Paladins if need-be. But that meant more factory time, more production costs, and more tweaking their AIs. James had too much work to do to properly set up the Knights for the winter at this rate.

Perhaps if he only replaced some of them and put his soldiers on a rotating work force so that none were on the borders for more than a few weeks at a time. Still, that didn’t solve the holidays. He needed to ensure that everyone could be home for the holidays. Even Hunters.

James sighed. There were just no good answers. Not if he wanted to keep everyone safe.

_“That night is still one of the best of my life, Jim, I want you to know that. And I wish… I just wish we could’ve talked about it more before you left.”_

James tilted his head to look at the clock that displayed its shining blue numbers on the wall. It was long past midnight, long past time for him to be back at his apartment. He didn’t revel in the idea of going back to that place. It wasn’t home, not really. Home was in Vale, in a temporary apartment with a man he’d pretended to be married to for months.

Home was with Qrow, no matter where that might have been.

God, he missed Qrow.

_“I don’t hold it against you, you know? For leaving when you did. I get that you have a job. I get that it’s important. Which is why I don’t hold it against you for not answering my calls either. I get it. I do.”_

James got to his feet and pulled on his greatcoat, eyeing the darkened streets of Atlas despite their streetlights and signs. There were no buses or subways running this late, not in this part of the city and especially not during the off season for students here at Atlas. It was a long weekend; they were already all gone.

He had his car though, that would do. Even if he did hate driving.

_“I’m worried about you though, Jim. I see shit on the news about Atlas and I can’t help but wonder how hard these guys are working you, you know? I…”_

The dark streets of Atlas were about James’ only comfort. They weren’t a friend; he didn’t seem to have any of those these days. But they were something. Something that he could find a quiet kinship with when he was alone.

He spent a lot of time alone.

_“What are they doing to you up there? I saw you on the news the other day. You look dead, Jim. You look overworked to hell and back.”_

James stepped out of his car and locked it, shuffling toward his apartment’s entrance with one hand on his face. His glove was stiff from the cold and when he rubbed his left hand over his face, it scratched against the stubble he hadn’t shaved in almost a week. It was patchy and shadowed, making him look ten years older than he was and only a few older than he felt.

It wasn’t the only part of him that was a mess, he knew. He could see the bags under his eyes in his reflection in the elevator as he ascended to his apartment. They got worse by the day, shifting from faint marks to full bruises until he wondered if he shouldn’t invest in concealer.

_“You’re not alone, Jim. I know you think you are, but you’re not. You’ve got me and Ozpin and Glynda. Any one of us would be up there in an instant if you asked. So would Winter, hell, even Tai, and he barely knows you. You’ve got this whole world willing to protect you and help you if you just_ asked. _”_

James tossed down his keys into the little bowl in his apartment, not bothering with most of the lights. He hit the one in the kitchen, debating another coffee. He needed sleep, but with sleep came the dreams and with dreams came the nightmares. Nightmares that he couldn’t bear to deal with any longer.

It was almost better to go without sleep completely than to deal with the images and stories his brain assaulted him with in his unconscious hours. At least, this way, he could handle his waking nightmares the best way he knew how – distractions, coffee, and denial. The only collection of coping methods that had ever worked. Even if they weren’t the healthiest.

_“We – I – don’t want you to work yourself to death. You’ve got to know that. I… I just…”_

James tossed his Scroll onto the table and it beeped. He frowned and looked over at it, spying the ‘New Voicemail’ button. His finger hovered over the ‘erase messages’ button, but he hesitated when he saw, just under that, that his last missed call had been from Qrow. There’d been no other calls since he’d last checked his Scroll.

The voicemail had to be from Qrow.

James stared at voicemail for a long moment, debating if he really wanted to listen to it. If he really wanted to acknowledge that Qrow still had a hold over him. Would the Council use that against him? Would they go find Qrow and lock him out of Atlas? He didn’t know anymore.

_“I need to know that you’re okay. I need to know that you’re still alive. Please… call me back.”_

James stared, finger drifting between the two buttons.

_“I love you, James Ironwood. I just wish I’d gotten to tell you that before you left.”_

James tapped the button.

“Message Erased,” said his Scroll cheerfully. With a sigh, James put his Scroll on mute, shucked his clothes, headed down the hall to his room, and climbed into bed.

He got almost an hour of sleep before the nightmares started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love!


	30. A Lead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Couple days late, but we're making progress.

Taiyang stared at his Scroll and frowned. He’d called Qrow again, trying to get him to do more than leave him a voicemail at three in the morning, but he hadn’t had any luck. Qrow wouldn’t answer his Scroll, nor his door, nor respond to anything else that Taiyang had done in the last few days in some desperate attempt to get Qrow to respond to him.

“Damnit, Qrow,” breathed Taiyang. They were brothers, partners, friends. He should have been able to get through to Qrow. But nothing he was trying was working. Taiyang pressed his lips together into a thin line and shook his head. God, what was he even supposed to do? He didn’t know what was going on with Qrow, not really, and since James had left, Taiyang had only seen him get worse and worse from a distance.

Taiyang sighed and shoved his Scroll into his back pocket before heading down to his daughters’ dorm room. Yang had been released yesterday and he’d been checking in as often as he could. Despite his frustrations with Ozpin, he was grateful the man had given him a room at Beacon while he stayed there to look after Yang and Ruby. Not that Ruby needed much looking after. Just that he worried about her.

He worried about all of them, not just his girls, and with Blake gone…

Taiyang sighed again. He walked down the hall to the girls’ room and rapped gently at the door, leaning against the frame until it slid open. Ruby smiled at him before stepping aside to let him in. Taiyang ruffled her hair, wishing he could take her back to Patch. Wishing he could take them both back to Patch, and Weiss as well. But Blake was gone, and until she was back, not one of them was leaving.

“Hey, girls,” said Taiyang, softly. He leaned against the wall and looked over Weiss and Yang, who were sitting on Weiss’ bed. Weiss was braiding Yang’s hair, a scrunchie around her wrist, and Yang was rubbing at her right shoulder with her left hand, frowning. Both were half turned away from him.

“Hey, Dad,” said Yang. She rolled her shoulders and winced. Her sleeve hid the stump, but the bulk around the sleeve revealed it was still bandaged and slightly swollen. “Would anyone judge me if I wanted to take more painkillers?”

Weiss flicked her wrist and a glyph appeared beneath the bottle, bouncing it into her hand. “Take what you need, your aura is still low,” she said, spinning the top off the bottle.

Yang let Weiss shake two out into her hand before swallowing them dry, then Weiss went back to braiding Yang’s hair. The last few inches were missing, after everything had happened, but they’d evened it out and it still hung just passed her shoulder blades.

Taiyang worried that losing so much of her hair would break Yang, but she seemed to be handling it all right. She was handling most things all right, except for Blake.

“We’re making progress on finding Blake,” said Taiyang. Ruby looked up from where she’d tucked herself on the bunk opposite Weiss’.

“Good,” said Ruby, quietly. “We miss her.”

“Can we help?” asked Yang.

“Yang.” Taiyang’s voice was low, but without judgement.

She sighed. “I know, okay? I know. But…” She shook her head and Weiss ‘ahem-ed’. Yang went still again, but Taiyang saw her working her jaw as she tried to stay that way.

“If we get a proper lead, you can come,” said Taiyang. He hadn’t talked it over with Ozpin or Glynda, but he knew it was the only way to keep Yang safe. She’d go after Blake and Taurus no matter how they tried to stop her. The only way to keep her in check was to bring her with them. At least, that way, they had control over where she was.

If people had thought more like that when he and Qrow had been younger, there would have been a lot less accidents in Team STRQ.

But most people just figured if you locked up kids they wouldn’t get in trouble. Ha, fat chance of that. There was no way to stop them once they wanted to go. The only thing you could do was point them in the right direction and be there if they fell.

Prevention without imprisonment, Qrow had said once. Then he’d complimented Tai on the idea and…

Taiyang shook it off. That’d been years ago. It was nothing now.

Or so he hoped.

“But we don’t know where she is,” protested Yang.

“Done,” said Weiss, finishing with the scrunchie at the end of Yang’s hair. She shifted back a tad to let Yang turn around to face Taiyang properly.

“We all want to help,” said Yang. She balled her hand into a fist in her lap and hissed. Taiyang saw the jump in her throat, figured muscles that were no longer there were trying to tighten as well. “We just… she’s our _friend_ , Dad. She’s my _partner._ ”

Taiyang nodded. In a soft voice, he said, “I know. But we really don’t know where the White Fang is, girls. We don’t.”

“But we might know someone who does,” said Yang. She looked hopeful now, eyes bright with a fire that he hadn’t seen in some time.

Taiyang blinked. Huh? That was new. “Who?”

“Sun and Blake used to go to this bookstore together all the time,” said Yang. She tucked her legs up on the bed, crossing them. “The guy in there, the owner, his name is Tukson, Sun said he heard him and Blake talking about the White Fang before. He used to be a member.” Yang stared up at Taiyang, a quiet kindling in her eyes. “He might know where they’d go.”

That, Taiyang hadn’t known. He’d had no idea Blake knew old members of the White Fang. He’d guessed pretty well that Blake had used to be a member, based on everything he’d heard, but he hadn’t pieced together how she’d been tracked to Vale. Surely there was something else going on.

Why was Taurus obsessed with her? There was a piece of the puzzle he was missing.

Something that none of them had managed to put together yet.

“All right,” said Taiyang. “We’ll look into it, but I need you girls to stay here.”

“But…,” started Yang.

“Yang,” said Taiyang. “Please, don’t make me tell you no again.”

Yang blinked, dropped her gaze, and nodded. “Get us a lead, Dad.” She clenched her fist in her lap again. “So I can rip apart the guy who took her.”

“I will,” said Taiyang. He looked to Ruby, who’d watched this entire exchange silently. “Are you going to be okay, Ruby?”

She nodded. “Yeah, just thinking. Stay safe, Dad.”

“I will,” said Taiyang. “I love all _three_ of you girls, remember that.” He palmed open the door and looked back at them. “Be safe too.” Then he left the room, heading toward the guest dorms so he could find Sun and ask him to take him down to the bookstore. At least now he had _something_ to go on.

* * *

 

Taiyang followed his internal map of Beacon to the guest dorms for Haven Academy. It’d been a long time since he’d needed to find them, but Ozpin hadn’t changed the layout since Taiyang had been in school, and that made it easy enough to track Sun to his room.

It helped that everyone in the halls knew exactly who he was talking about. Taiyang wondered about that. People had known his and Qrow’s names pretty well when they were in school, but that hadn’t been a good thing, necessarily.

Or even usually, for that matter.

Taiyang paused in front of the door he’d been told was Sun’s and knocked twice. He shoved his hands into his pockets and waited for the door to open.

When it did, Taiyang came face to face with a guy who looked… eerily like he had at seventeen, if only slightly lighter in just about every sense of the world.

“Dude, since when is time travel a thing?” said the blue-haired guy behind the blond. The blond shrugged.

“I dunno,” he looked to Taiyang. “You’re not me from the future, are you?”

Taiyang raised his eyebrows, unable to stop his grin. “Unless someone cut off your tail,” he said, spotting the swinging tail behind the guy, “then, no.”

The guy grimaced. “Yeah, that’d suck,” he said. “Besides, you look more like Jaune. Wrong skintone though.” He shrugged, then tapped his chin. “Maybe like, our dad? But we’re not related…” He shook his head. “Anyway, I’m Sun.”

“Taiyang.” Taiyang couldn’t help the amusement in his voice. This kid was ridiculous, but he already liked him. A lot like him at that age.

Sun’s eyes went wide and he took a step back. “You’re Yang and Ruby’s dad?” He bounced on the spot, breaking into a wide grin. “Oh, that is _so cool_. Wait,” he wrinkled his face, “why are you here? Is Yang okay? Is Ruby? Is the school under attack!”

Taiyang blinked, trying to keep up with the exuberant teen. “Yes, yes, and no,” he said, hoping that was in order. “Yang told me you know a man named Tukson?”

“Yeah, I know ‘im, why?” asked Sun, cocking his head to one side. His tail swished between his shoulders.

“Yang thinks he might have an idea on what Taurus did with Blake. Could you take me to him?” asked Taiyang.

Sun nodded quickly, bangs flopping in his face. “Yeah, sure, lemme get shoes.” He disappeared from the doorway and Taiyang looked over the rest of the room. He spied the other three members of Sun’s team, including the blue-haired boy who’d wondered if time travel was real.

They seemed like nice enough kids, especially when they all waved and cheerfully said hello, and Taiyang waved back with a little smile.

Sun reappeared, shoes on but shirt still undone, and followed Taiyang out into the hallway.

“All right,” said Sun. “To Tukson’s Book Trade!”

* * *

 

The journey to the book store was relatively calm and anything but silent. Sun rambled on and on about seemingly everything, shifting from classes – they sucked – to weapons – his was a staff that turned into _gunchucks_ and, oh, Taiyang needed to see those in action – to the various people at Beacon Academy. If nothing else, it was a good way to learn about the other kids in his daughters’ classes. Apparently Jaune had a habit of losing fights with his shield, Pyrrha Nikos was much cooler in person than she was on TV, and Nora Valkyrie could break someone in half with one hand and that was _weirdly attractive._

Taiyang couldn’t argue with that. He’d had a similar reaction in the past, to another small woman, after all.

By the time the ship into the city touched down, Taiyang’s mind was swimming with a ridiculous amount of seemingly random facts for a dozen different students. Most of whom Taiyang had never heard of.

Sun pulled Taiyang – literally, grabbing him by the sleeve and pulling – down the street to Tukson’s Book Trade. It was a nice, quaint place tucked into the back of the city and Taiyang couldn’t help but smile as the two walked into it.

“Tukson!” called Sun as the bell on the door jingled. “It’s me, Sun!”

There was a rustle from the back room as Taiyang looked around. Shelves upon shelves of books were all around Taiyang, some stacked to chest height and some taller than he was. He spied a collection of comic books off to one side and wondered how many Beacon students frequented the place. It was relatively new, or at least it had come long after he’d stopped visiting Vale, some eight years ago.

The door to the back room opened and a man walked through carrying books. He was a burly man with very nice sideburns and if he wasn’t probably fifteen years Taiyang’s junior and if it wasn’t _horribly inappropriate_ considering their current situation, he probably would have hit on the guy.

“Sun, what can I do for you?” asked the man. Taiyang presumed he was Tukson. Setting down the books, Tukson looked at Taiyang, “Who’s your friend?”

Taiyang leaned against the counter and grinned, “Taiyang Xiao Long. The pleasure is all mine, gorgeous.” Okay so maybe he was going to flirt anyway. Oops.

Sun shoved Taiyang out of the way and sighed. “You’re worse than Neptune, I _swear_ ,” he muttered. Then, he turned his attention to Tukson, who, Taiyang noted, looked more amused than anything else. “We’re looking for intel on where Taurus might have gone. He’s got Blake.”

Tukson nodded. “I heard,” he said. A sadness touched his voice and Taiyang forced himself to get a grip. He wasn’t Qrow. He could be serious and _not_ flirt.

Taiyang cleared his throat and straightened up. “If we can get a lead on him, we can go get her. We have the power, just not the information.”

Tukson looked over their shoulders to the door, pressing his lips together. He circled the counter and headed to the door, flipping the lock and blacking out the windows with a slide of his fingers on a switch. Then, he turned back toward them and sighed.

“I know where he is,” said Tukson. He pressed his lips together and took a deep breath. The fear came off him in waves, almost a physical thing that clogged the air around them.

“Hey, if this puts you in danger,” started Sun.

Tukson shook his head, sharp and jerky. “It does, but it’s worth it. Blake… Blake is a good friend of mine and I cannot let her be hurt by _him._ Not again.” His voice went low and hoarse on the last words and Taiyang was tempted to hug him, despite barely knowing the man.

“She’s not in Vale,” said Tukson. “Taurus was moving his operations to Mantle. That’s where he’ll be keeping her. The whole place still has the military protection it used to and Taurus has been trying to get it all back online.”

“But if he gets it up and running, then none of us can get in,” said Sun, looking to Taiyang. “How do you get past Atlas security?”

Taiyang sighed. “With an Atlesian officer – a high ranking one at that.”

“The General,” said Sun. He rubbed his face. “Can he do it?”

“Without a doubt,” said Taiyang. He looked to Tukson. “Thank you. That’s actually incredibly helpful. We’ll leave you alone now. We don’t want to get you into trouble.” He and Sun headed for the door, only for Tukson to catch his hand before he left.

“Take care of her,” said Tukson, softly. “She deserves the world.”

“They all do,” said Taiyang, thinking about the rest of the team.

Tukson smiled. “Yeah, they do.”

With that, he released Taiyang’s hand and let Taiyang leave. Taiyang noticed, halfway down the block, that Tukson had tucked a piece of paper into his hand. He blinked, frowned, and opened it up, revealing a series of numbers scrawled in messy handwriting.

_‘Call me when this is over’_ was written underneath the numbers. Taiyang didn’t know if Tukson meant to let him know what had happened, or to get coffee. Personally, he wasn’t picky.

“Did you seriously get his number without _trying_?” asked Sun, sounding incredulous. Taiyang grinned at him and Sun groaned. “I take it back, you’re _better_ than Neptune. He never gets numbers.”

Taiyang’s laughter followed them up the block as the two headed back to the docks to get a lift back to the school. Taiyang knew what he had to do next, but he tried to ignore it. For now, he wanted to focus on the good. They had a lead, they had a chance, and everything would work out. He just knew it would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love!


	31. The Greater Good

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now back to your regularly scheduled suffering.

The slow tick-ticking of the clock over James’ couch bled into the sounds of traffic that floated up from far below through James’ cracked balcony door. He laid on the couch with his eyes closed, head pounding as his mind tried to sort out the repetition of the clock and the unpredictable cacophony of the traffic. One with rhythm, one without, but his mind tried to make them match no matter how much James tried to focus on something else.

Tick-tick. Honk. Rumble. Caw. Tick-tick.

James sighed and opened his eyes. It was early, perhaps a little after six in the morning. He’d slept, if waking nightmares and exhaustion induced naps could be called that, on and off since about three that morning. Not enough sleep. Not _nearly_ enough rest.

With more effort than it should have taken, James shoved himself to his feet and stumbled through his living room and to his kitchen, where he punched the auto-perk button on his coffee maker. Then, he shuffled down the hall and to the bathroom, where he only just remembered to turn on the light before he forced himself into the shower.

Lather, rinse, soak head to try and clear exhaustion.

Fail.

Try not to think.

Fail.

Turn off water, step out of shower, try not to hate what was in the mirror.

Fail.

James closed his eyes and gripped the edge of the counter, head hung and water dripping down his face and into the sink. He shivered, the air from the fan quickly cooling metal and flesh alike. He needed to put on clothes. He needed to start work today.

But he was just so _tired._

All he wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep forever. To curl up against Qrow in their shared quarters in Vale and bury his face in Qrow’s hair. He’d never slept better than when he’d slept next to Qrow, not in all the years since his accident.

James sighed, soft and frustrated, but that was about all he could do to show his emotions. Everything else took too much energy. Energy he simply didn’t have anymore.

James was falling. He’d never finish the to-do list on his own, not like this. He needed help. He needed rest. He needed _time._

The Council had won.

James couldn’t do this much longer.

It took time, but James forced himself out of the bathroom and to his room, where he dumped his dirty laundry in the ever-growing pile of dirty laundry that stuck out of his basket.

He needed to do laundry.

It took too much effort.

He forced himself to get dressed, thankful that his clothes tended not to crease, as he didn’t have the effort to iron them.

Everything took too much effort, as of late.

James checked himself in the mirror, grateful that he was working from home today. The bags under his eyes were almost as dark as his turtleneck. The shadow across his jaw had grown too far to claim it was simply a few days of regrowth, and the lines around his mouth and eyes had never been so pronounced.

Another sigh. Another slump. He dragged his fingers through his hair and wished he could rest. But he couldn’t. Sleep brought nightmares. Sleep took away from the time he could be working.

Granted, he wasn’t getting much work done lately no matter what he did. Nothing would focus for more than a few minutes.

James stumbled into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee. Didn’t bother to add anything to it before he drank half of it in one go. The heat scalded his throat and left it and his mouth burning.

James stared into the half empty mug for much longer than he should have, trying to piece together is head long enough to get to work.

He wasn’t sure how long he stood there, leaned against the kitchen counter as he stared at his coffee mug. Eventually, there was a sharp banging on the door that yanked him from his scattered thoughts. He looked up and over his shoulder toward the door, squinting at it. When the banging sounded again, James forced himself to push off the counter, set down his coffee, and slouch toward the door.

He wasn’t sure who he expected on the other side of the door when he opened it, but it definitely wasn’t _Glynda._ She glared up at him with enough force that he retreated a step, and she took the opportunity to stomp into his apartment. The sharp sound of her heels against the tile foyer ricocheted through James’ skull and he flinched at the slam of his door.

“James Ironwood,” said Glynda. She took a deep breath and stabbed a finger into his chest. “How _dare_ you!”

James stumbled, half from the words and half from the force of that little stab. “I’m… what?”

“How _dare_ you,” repeated Glynda. She took another step forward and he retreated again, eyes wide and arms held up in surrender. “Not only were you _completely irresponsible_ in leaving all your affairs out of order in Vale when you _left_ – which I had to pick up, I should mention – but you left a pair of heartbroken people behind!” She shoved hard at him with something he couldn’t see and he flinched as he bumped into the table. “What gives you the _right_?”

“The council,” started James, the words weak and hoarse from his burned throat.

“You could have said goodbye,” said Glynda. “And what’s this about you not answering your phone messages?”

“I…” James faltered, unable to find the words.

Glynda folded her arms across her chest, and James had never been more aware than in that moment just how easy it would be for Glynda to tear him limb from limb.

She’d probably enjoy it too. God knew he deserved it.

“James. What happened?” asked Glynda. The frustration and anger dropped out of her voice completely, leaving behind only sympathy and worry. He wondered if the fear showed on his face. If the self-loathing did too.

“Glynda…” He looked away, his tone so morose he was amazed he didn’t tear up.

Glynda reached out and rested a hand on his cheek. James flinched back from it, looking away. “What are they doing to you?”

“Nothing I don’t deserve,” murmured James.

Now, it was Glynda’s turn to falter. She stared at James in open shock, mouth dropping open and eyes going wide. “Oh, James,” she whispered. This time when she took his face in one hand, he didn’t flinch back. He let her rub her thumb on the overgrown stubble that marred his jaw. “What have they done?”

He reached up and rested his hand over hers. “Nothing I don’t deserve,” he repeated. “I have a list; I have a job. If I can finish it, then this will all be over. I just need to get back together long enough to finish this.”

Glynda gave him a look that could have stared down a Grimm. “And what are the odds that you can actually finish this list? What are the odds that the council isn’t doing this on purpose?” she asked.

James looked away.

“I thought so,” said Glynda, more than a touch bitter. “James…”

“Glynda, this… all of this, it’s for the greater good,” said James, voice breaking.

Glynda stepped back and clenched her fists at her sides, a snarl ripping loose from her throat that was so feral it made James take a step back, his eyes going wide as he watched his friend transform from teacher, helper, to _huntress_ in an instant.

“ _Damn_ the greater good,” she snapped. She stabbed a finger at James, nostrils flaring. “I spent two weeks in a god damned _coma_ for the greater good. I left _Atlas_ for the greater good. I destroyed my life _over and over again_ for the _so-called_ greater good.” She took a step forward and got in James’ space, still snarling. “I left you to _die_ for the greater good.”

James looked away, unable to force himself to keep looking at Glynda. He remembered that day. He remembered that lifetime. All of it so long ago he could scarcely believe it had ever happened.

Little known facts about Glynda Goodwitch: once, she was a Specialist. Once, she was Atlesian.

Once, but not any longer. All because of him.

“I am sick and fucking tired of the greater good,” said Glynda, her voice going dangerously low. “And I am sick of you destroying yourself for an ideal you will _never_ reach.”

“Glynda…”

“No.” Her voice was firm. James’ jaw clicked shut. “I am not leaving you like this, James. Not again. You are going to be selfish for once in your god forsaken life. You are going to take go _shave_ , and you are going to _eat_. Then, you are going to sleep.” She folded her arms tightly across her chest and scowled. “When you wake up, you’re calling Qrow and we’re sorting out all of this.”

James swallowed. “I have a job, Glynda.” But his protest was weak and they both knew it. What he really had was fear.

“I can handle your job for one day,” said Glynda. “God knows I almost had to back in Vale. If there’s something I can’t figure out? I’ll call Ozpin, or Winter, or heaven help me, the old General. Argent’s still around, I can ask him for advice.” She grimaced, as though the thought caused her physical pain. It probably did. “Atlas can survive without you for a few days, James.”

James sighed, unsure of what to say. “Glynda, the list, and Schnee. I can’t… I need… I have to…” He combed his fingers through his hair and cursed quietly. “I _can’t._ ”

“You know,” said Glynda, quietly. “I never thought it was possible to die from heartbreak, but here I am, watching it happen before my eyes.”

“Glynda. I’ll lose my _job._ ”

“Not if it still gets done,” said Glynda. “Is there anything in there that says you _have_ to do it all on your own? Or was it only implied?”

“…Implied,” mumbled James, ducking his head in shame.

“James,” said Glynda. Her words dragged his gaze back to her. “I left you to die once, James. I won’t do it again.” She stared up at him through her glasses, eyes as vulnerable as he’d ever seen them and voice trembling. “Don’t ask me to bury you, James. Don’t make me watch you destroy yourself when we both know you can fix the very thing causing all this.” She reached out and took his hands in her own. “Let me help you.”

James stared at Glynda for a long minute, stunned speechless by her soft words and her softer expression. He tried, over and over, to find the words to reject all this. But none would come to him.

“Okay,” he said, after an impossible pause. “Okay.”

“Thank you,” said Glynda, and she drew him into a hug. James clung as tightly as he dared to Glynda, his face buried in her hair. And if a few tears finally slipped free, and if his shoulders shook a bit as the weight of the world finally crashed down upon him, then he knew Glynda wouldn’t say anything. She never did.

* * *

 

The banging on the door dragged Qrow from the depths of his half-asleep mind. He stared at the door from where he laid on the couch, unsure if he should actually answer the door. It could be Glynda, or Ozpin, or Winter, or any number of people he didn’t want to see anymore.

Or, worst of all, it could Tai, disappointed and disapproving to see his brother-in-law – and wasn’t _that_ a loaded fucking phrase – in such a state.

The banging continued and Qrow forced himself upright. He shuffled to the door and pulled it open, not bothering to check who it was.

He probably deserved it, regardless.

“Qrow, get dressed.” It was Taiyang, looking more determined and energetic than Qrow had seen him in years. “Come on, let’s go.”

Qrow blinked. “What?” he asked. “Where? Why?”

“Airship, Mantle, and the White Fang,” said Taiyang. He pushed his way into the apartment and started looking for Qrow’s clothes. Qrow blinked again, trying to piece everything together in his sleep deprived state. “We’re leaving in less than an hour. You can sleep on the ship after we fill you in.”

“Fill me in on _what?_ ” asked Qrow, rubbing his eyes.

Taiyang beamed at him. “We found the White Fang – we know where Taurus is holding Blake. We’re going to go grab James, break into Mantle’s old security system, and break Blake out. Hopefully take down the Fang in the process.”

Qrow blinked. “Do I get a choice?” he asked. Taiyang threw a clean pair of pants and a shirt at him. Qrow caught them against his chest. His mind was catching up now. Mantle? How in the hell were they supposed to get into Mantle? The security was Atlas military, no way they could get through it without inside help.

Or, alternatively, a General who was familiar with the entire system.

That would be why they were going to go get James. Made sense.

“No,” said Taiyang. “Don’t you want to save Blake?”

And that was what it came down to, wasn’t it? Blake was captured because of his own stupidity. Yang was missing an arm for the same reason. It was a miracle that Taiyang didn’t hate him, honestly.

“Yeah, I do,” said Qrow. He held the clothes a little tighter. Maybe talking to James in person would fix things. He’d never responded to Qrow’s message. Maybe he didn’t want to hear it. Maybe he didn’t care. But either way, he was going to sort this out and make up for his own stupidity. It was time to stop living in mourning and filth and act like the grown ass man he was.

He could do this. He knew he could.

“Then let’s go,” said Taiyang. Qrow nodded, determination burning away the rest of sleep deprivation. Together, the two gathered up Qrow’s supplies and headed for the air ship.

It was show time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love!


	32. To Atlas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess what's back! Back again!
> 
> (Shady's back)
> 
> No but seriously this thing is BACK and I am PUMPED. Cheers y'all!

Gathering up the girls to take them to Atlas had been surprisingly easy, but Qrow should have figured as much. They were going to save one of their friends, after all, it only made sense that they’d been eager to go. Qrow knew that, in his days at Beacon, he’d jumped onto dumber missions to keep his friends out of trouble. Or drag them into it, for that matter.

Qrow was glad the girls had come with him and Tai, it eased the tension of the airship somewhat. Sure, he was still glowering at Tai from time to time, but that couldn’t be helped. With everything else going on, Qrow couldn’t shake the past from the present. And looking at Tai was always an adventure in self-control.

Once, that self-control had been for an entirely different reason. These days, it was mostly an effort not to drag all that up whenever Taiyang got a little too close to home with some of the shit going on in Qrow’s head.

Truth be told, he was just glad that looking at Tai wasn’t an exercise in not shoving him into a wall anymore. Whatever attraction he’d had for Tai, as strong as it had once been, had largely faded, leaving Qrow finally, _finally_ able to deal with his shit with James.

_James._

Qrow looked out the window of the airship and rested his forehead on the cool glass. He brought his hand up to the glass and closed his eyes, trying to cross the distance with his mind. Somewhere, beyond the ocean, beyond the clouds, beyond the sky, was James. Either in his office or in his apartment, either working on Atlas Academy things or on military things, but definitely working. If he hadn’t collapsed by now, that was. And god, seeing the way he’d looked on television – seeing how his eyes had been dead – that was a strong possibility.

The media had asked once about Qrow. James had mumbled something about ‘long distance relationships being difficult’ and gone back to the old topic. The media hadn’t asked again. Speculation was high – had they gotten a divorce? Were they taking a break? – but no one had answers and James wasn’t giving them.

Neither was the Council. They seemed prepared to work James to death.

Qrow sighed and beat his forehead gently against the glass.

This was stupid.

He and James weren’t even talking right now – hell, the last thing they’d really done together was _fuck_. How the hell was he supposed to drag James out of the hell he was in? How was he supposed to make him see sense? If James had listened to his message, he knew how Qrow felt. Not calling back was probably just a sign that Qrow’s feelings were one-sided.

Tai’s laughter, gentle and toward Yang’s terrible jokes, split through his thoughts.

Qrow opened his eyes and gave a tired and bitter smile at the window.

It wouldn’t be the first time his feelings were one-sided. He should have been used to it by now.

“Uncle Qrow?” Ruby’s voice. Qrow pulled himself from his misery and the window to look at her. She hugged her knees, watching him curiously.

The girls were all wearing different outfits than usual – Qrow had heard Ruby refer to hers as ‘Slayer’ and jokingly call Weiss’ ‘Snowpea’, but he didn’t know what the significance was – and the smaller skirt made Ruby look even younger and more vulnerable than she usually did when she curled up like this.

“Do you think we’ll find Penny?” asked Ruby in a tiny voice. Qrow sighed, reached out, and ruffled her hair.

“Yeah, kiddo, I think we’ll find her,” said Qrow. He glanced back out the window, spying the land coming up fast in front of the airship. _Solitas._ Qrow swallowed hard and shook it off, looking back to Ruby. “She’s somewhere in all that, isn’t she? We’ll find her. We’ll bring her home.”

“Atlas _is_ her home,” said Ruby.

Qrow gave Ruby a hard look. “Is it now?” he asked.

Ruby looked away and bit the inside of her cheek, hugging herself a little tighter. Yeah, Qrow had gathered as much. Penny seemed about as keen to stay in Atlas as he did. The only thing holding her there was James, and Qrow figured he could probably make a good argument to get her into Beacon if she wanted.

Presuming she wanted. Presuming she was still _around_. Presuming a thousand tiny things that all hinged on him and James sorting shit out.

God, this entire situation was completely fucked.

_“Attention passengers, we’ll be landing in forty minutes. Please prepare yourselves,”_ said the voice over the intercom. Qrow didn’t recognize the pilot, but he was one of James’ left-behind Atlas men apparently. When he’d heard from Taiyang what was going on, he’d been eager to help. Qrow tried not to think about it too hard. If people in Atlas, if James’ people, were rooting for him and James, that just added a lot of unneeded pressure to this entire thing.

Not that there wasn’t a massive amount of pressure on it to begin with.

God, he was completely fucked.

“Hey, Uncle Qrow?” asked Yang. Qrow looked over to her and saw her roll her shoulders, a light grimace on her face. He wondered if she’d want a prosthetic, sooner or later. Wondered if maybe she’d want to learn how to fight one-handed, instead. Tai could teach her. He’d broken enough bones in Beacon to know how to fight with one arm.

“Yeah?” he asked, cocking his head.

“What are you gonna do, in Atlas?” asked Yang, wrinkling her nose. “Like, if General Ironwood isn’t answering your calls,” Qrow gave Tai a hard look, Tai ducked his head and grimaced, “then how do you know he’ll answer the door when you show up at his apartment?”

Qrow swallowed. “I’ll take care of Jim,” said Qrow in a voice much steadier than he felt. “You handle Penny.”

Yang sighed. “Fine.” Weiss awkwardly patted her shoulder, not saying a word. Qrow still wondered why Weiss had come with them – yes, this was her team, and yes, they were her friends, but he also knew from James that Weiss and her father didn’t exactly get along.

And by ‘didn’t exactly get along’, Qrow figured James meant ‘Jacques is an abusive asshole and if I could prove it, I’d have three kids’.

The last few minutes on the ship were spent in mostly silence. When it landed, the five got up and left, thanking the pilot for everything, before stepping down into Atlas.

The first thought Qrow had was that it was _cold._ It was late autumn, almost winter, so it made sense, but he still hadn’t expected Atlas to already have an inch of snow on the ground. He shivered and rubbed at his arms, teeth already clattering behind his pressed tight lips. A moment later, a coat dropped onto his shoulders. He blinked and looked at Taiyang, who was pulling one on.

“Figured we’d need them,” he said, shrugging. Qrow gave a grateful smile and a small nod before pulling the coat on as well. “All right, so, what’s the plan?”

Qrow swallowed hard as four pairs of eyes all locked on him. This wasn’t his usual fare. He was a spy – stealth, sneaking around, and working alone were his specialities – but now he was the leader of a ring of angry teenage girls and a guy who wasn’t his brother but wasn’t just his friend either.

“All right,” said Qrow, rubbing his mouth. “We should split up – girls, you have any idea where to find Penny?”

Ruby nodded and stuck up her hand like she was in a classroom. Qrow snorted quietly, but gestured for her to speak anyway.

“She managed to send me a message. She said she’s at the SDC, in their R&D department,” said Ruby, wrinkling her nose. “I don’t know why the SDC would want to keep Penny, but I guess maybe she’s helping them with weapons?”

“My family’s company?” said Weiss, sounding somewhere between annoyed and dismissive. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and scoffed. “Simple enough to get in. Yang – you’ll be posing as my date.”

“…Why?” asked Yang, wrinkling her brow.

Weiss gave a razor-sharp grin. “Because if I’m going to sneak into my father’s company and upset him, I might as well go as deep as I can and make myself the family shame as well.”

Yang chuckled and shook her head, looking pleased. “Man, Weiss, you go _hard._ ”

Weiss flipped her hair again. “Naturally.” She turned her attention to Qrow. “Is that acceptable?”

“Yeah, go nuts,” said Qrow. “Just remember to get Penny to James’ apartment – you have the address?” Ruby held up her scroll and nodded. “Good. Shoot us a message when you get Penny, just to be sure we know where everyone is.”

“Right!” said Ruby. She gave Qrow a salute, stuffed her scroll in her pocket, and grabbed Yang and Weiss by the sleeves. Yang shrugged and let herself be dragged off, while Weiss pulled her arm back, gave Qrow and Tai a curtesy, then jogged after Yang and Ruby, shouting at them to ‘hang on, you can’t get in without me!”

Qrow and Tai exchanged a look – Tai looking far more amused than Qrow – before they turned and headed toward James’ penthouse apartment in the heart of the city.

As they walked, Tai stuffed his hands in his pockets and let out a low whistle, tilting his head back to look at everything in Atlas.

“Man,” he said, turning his head to glance at Qrow. “This place is pretty swanky.”

Qrow shrugged and stuffed his hands in his pockets, hunching his shoulders when he caught a few people watching them. Tai hadn’t bothered to go for the monochrome colour scheme of Atlas when he’d grabbed their coats, so Qrow was in red and black and Tai was in _orange._ They stuck out like sore thumbs – beacons for anyone who wanted to spot them.

He didn’t like it. It’d be too easy for someone to go ‘hey, isn’t that the general’s husband?’ and then the jig would be up. Whether James knew he was here or not wouldn’t matter. What mattered was that if the Council figured out he was here, then they’d either come for him or come for James, and all of this would be for nothing.

“Qrow, talk to me,” said Tai, his voice surprisingly soft. “There’s more going on here than I know, isn’t there?”

Qrow sighed. “The Council is _fucked_ , Tai,” said Qrow in a low voice. His gaze darted around the street, his head still low. No one seemed to have recognized him yet. Thank god. It probably helped that he hadn’t been on the news lately. Or much at all, after the tournament. “They’re working Jim to death and…” He faltered, shook his head. “I’m scared.” The words were hoarse, a confession that Qrow barely heard himself.

Tai rested his hand on Qrow’s shoulder. “Hey, we’ll figure this out. We’re in this together. I’m not going to leave you behind.”

Qrow cracked a smile at Tai, though he knew it didn’t reach his eyes. They kept on toward the apartment building.

It wouldn’t be long now.

They were quiet for probably five, ten minutes before Taiyang spoke up again. “So, you and James, eh?” Tai chuckled and bumped his shoulder. “Can’t say I saw that coming. How’d it even happen, anyway?”

Qrow gave a wry smile, bitterness clogging out everything else. It hadn’t happened. Not that he could tell Tai that.

He settled for spewing his bitterness into his words. “Guess I have a thing for self-sacrificing guys with blue eyes,” he said, glancing at Tai.

Tai went very still, grimaced, and looked away. He said nothing. Qrow said nothing.

How many years had passed and he was still bitter about that? Qrow didn’t care. Besides, it wasn’t like he’d ever gotten to sort it all out with Tai. The guy had basically kicked him out afterwards.

At least now they were fixing things, even if he sometimes still looked at Tai and could only see what could have been.

At least he didn’t have feelings for Tai anymore – not current ones, anyway. His heart belonged to James.

Now if only James’ heart belonged to him. He guessed he’d find out if it went both ways soon enough. If James cared about his message and was simply trapped, or if he well and truly never wanted to see Qrow again.

Sooner than Qrow would have liked, they reached James’ apartment. Qrow had wondered if the doorman would even let them in, but he took one look at Qrow, raised his eyebrows, and let them go up.

“Think he recognized you?” asked Taiyang, jogging the few steps to catch up to Qrow. Then, Tai snorted and said, “What am I saying? You’ve probably been here a hundred times, right?”

“Yeah,” said Qrow, not looking at Tai. “Something like that.” Qrow was just glad he knew the damn apartment number. He’d only been in this building once, and then, he hadn’t even made it into James’ apartment.

Guy was private. After everything they’d been through, Qrow understood why, but he wondered why he’d never been the exception to the rule. They’d been friends for years, and whatever they were now – and god, he really didn’t know what that was and the more he thought about it, the more that churned his stomach – for months.

Surely he should have visited at some point, right?

But no. They’d always met on neutral territory. Beacon, Vale, conferences, even a hotel or two. It had always been somewhere neither one of them had the advantage. Qrow had to wonder, now, if that had been by design.

The two stepped into the elevator and Qrow tapped the penthouse button before closing his eyes and leaning back against the stainless steel and glass. He could feel Tai’s gaze on him, could sense that he wanted to talk to Qrow, but neither one broke the silence. Qrow had too much going on in his own head. He had no idea if James was even going to let them into his apartment. And what if he gave up the whole ruse in front of Tai? How was he supposed to explain that?

And would Tai even stand by him if he did?

“Qrow, listen,” started Tai, but he quickly broke off. The elevator dinged. The door opened with Qrow’s eyes. He stepped out of the elevator and down the hall, heading toward one of the doors at the end of the hall.

Four apartments – penthouse apartments – on this level due to the size of the building. James had the far left one with massive windows overlooking two sides of Atlas. Qrow hadn’t seem them from the inside, but he’d seen them flying by to check on James, once or twice.

Too bad the windows were mirrored. Well, for him, anyway. James probably preferred it.

Qrow stopped in front of the door and raised his hand to knock, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Tai rested a hand on his shoulder. “It’ll be okay,” he said.

But would it? The two hadn’t spoken in god knew how long. The last time they had they’d been fleeing, unless Qrow felt like counting the warehouse, where James had only gotten a dozen words out to him before it’d all gone to hell.

James was probably going to scream at him. Probably going to tell him to leave. Probably going to rip Qrow apart and start this fight all over again.

Qrow didn’t want that. He just wanted some _peace._

But he didn’t think he was going to get it.

Qrow took a deep breath, nodded to Tai, and rapped on the door.

Five seconds, then ten, then fifteen. Nothing.

Just as Qrow was about to try again, the door opened and Qrow came face to face with what was left of James Ironwood.

If it was possible, he looked even worse than he had on television. His face was gaunt, his clothes hung off his frame, stubble shadowed his jaw until it was almost a beard, and Qrow thought he’d picked up another inch of white hair around his ears. And his eyes were the worst – not the bags, which Qrow was used to, or the bloodshot quality to them, but the absolute unending hopelessness and despair that radiated out from them, obscuring the light, and the life, that Qrow had grown so fond of.

“Qrow?” James’ voice was a rasp, barely there and barely coherent.

“Hey, Jim,” said Qrow, softly. “I, uh—”

James stumbled forward, wrapped his arms around Qrow’s waist, and buried his face in Qrow’s shoulder. Qrow froze, arms at his sides, and stared at James as the other man completely slumped against him.

“Uh,” said Qrow.

In a voice so soft that Qrow wouldn’t have heard it if James hadn’t said it in his ear, James whispered, “I missed you.”

Qrow’s confusion fell away and he wrapped his arms under James’ arms, pressing his hands to James’ shoulders and stepping in to completely press himself against James. He pressed his face into James’ shoulder and closed his eyes, burying his nose in the crook of his neck.

“I missed you, too.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love!


	33. Mission Impossible

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *cue theme music*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is about the point in this fic where I realize it got away from me in a big way.

Ruby followed half a step behind Yang and Weiss as they entered the Schnee Dust Company building. Ruby couldn’t help but stare, even though Weiss had told her not to make a ‘spectacle out of herself’. She only spoke that formally when she was nervous, so Ruby thought it was best to listen to her.

As Ruby turned her attention back to Weiss, she saw Weiss catch Yang’s left hand and give it a squeeze before releasing it. Ruby thought, at first, that it was because of the little idea Weiss had had about upsetting her father, but then she saw the tension in Yang’s shoulders.

She’d lost an arm and her partner in one go, yet here she was, helping them bust Penny out of the SDC. Ruby couldn’t help the swell of pride that filled her whenever she looked at Yang. Her big sister really could do anything and she had more determination than almost anyone that Ruby had ever met. It was inspiring, and amazing, and it made Ruby want to work her absolute hardest in order to keep up with Yang.

“So, where are we going anyway? Where’s R&D?” asked Yang, looking at Weiss. Ruby glanced around the lobby and saw that they were drawing looks. Despite their altered outfits, which Ruby thought were _way cooler_ and way more formal than their hunting outfits, they still stuck out. Ruby thought it was the colour scheme. All of the people in here, regardless of rank, were dressed in mostly white with touches of black. It seemed the most important people had some blue on them, but other colours – like the red and purple that Ruby and Yang had on their outfits – were nowhere to be seen.

“Miss Schnee,” said a woman with a severe haircut from behind a desk. She stood, clutching her scroll, but didn’t move from behind her desk. Her gaze was confused, brow furrowed and nose wrinkled, and she tilted her head as she looked from Weiss to Yang and Ruby. “How may I help you?” Ruby could tell she wanted to ask why she and Yang were there, but she didn’t.

“Well, as you can see,” said Weiss, gesturing to Yang’s missing right arm, “I wanted to show my _girlfriend_ our new prosthetic line to see if she wanted one. I’ll be going down to Research and Development now.” Ruby caught the way heads turned on the word ‘girlfriend’ but no one said a word. Ruby wondered if people would have, back before Uncle Qrow and General Ironwood came out. Based on what she knew about Atlas – and the gross, old-fashioned beliefs most of the kingdom people over twenty-five held – she figured that was probably true.

People sucked sometimes. But people in Atlas sucked even more when it came to basic human rights.

“R-right, of course,” said the woman, looking embarrassed. “You still have full access with your scroll and I’ll mark you down as having two guests.”

Weiss glanced at Yang and Yang leaned forward on the desk, chest slightly forward and a sly grin on her face.

“Thanks, dollface,” said Yang, winking at her. The woman squeaked and clutched her scroll, eyes wide as she leaned back from Yang. Yang shrugged and walked back over to Weiss, hips swinging.

“I like it here,” said Yang, grinning at Weiss. Weiss snickered behind one hand and gestured for Ruby to follow her. Together, the three headed through the lobby and into the elevator. Weiss pressed the button and Yang leaned against the wall closest to Weiss.

“So,” asked Yang, once they started moving down, “how’d I do?”

Weiss broke into loud, half cackling laughter, leaning against the elevator and holding her stomach. “That,” she said, speaking around laughs, “was the greatest thing I have _ever_ seen.” She shook her head and straightened up, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “Thank you. I’ve always wanted to do that.”

“The girlfriend thing or freaking out your dad’s employees?” asked Yang.

Weiss shrugged. “Both.”

“Didn’t know you liked girls,” said Yang, tipping her head. Weiss looked away, cheeks flushed and head ducked. Yang patted her shoulder. “Hey, pretty sure the only one of us who doesn’t on the team is Ruby. Don’t worry about it.”

Ruby grinned and gave a thumb’s up. A moment later, the elevator jolted to a stop and the girls all looked to one another before the doors slid open.

As the door slid open, the R&D department came into view. The hub of the R&D department was a sunken hexagon of space, down several stairs. On the same level as the elevator, there was a series of doors and hallways, all leading off in different directions. Everything was done in the same white and silver colour scheme as the rest of the company, with a handful of glowing blue lines and power cells scattered throughout.

“Wow,” said Ruby. She followed Weiss out of the elevator, sharing a glance with Yang as they all headed into one of the many basement levels of the SDC.

“Welcome back, Miss Schnee,” said a man wearing a very spiffy looking outfit made up of many different pieces of white cloth that all formed together into a weird puzzle-piece like outfit that somehow worked really well. “What can I do for you?”

“My guests and I will be touring the robotics department today,” said Weiss. She waved her scroll. “We’ve been cleared already, so you don’t have to worry about letting us through.” She gave a firm look to the man and to the several others who were watching them. “Will that be all?” The commanding tone her voice took on made Ruby’s eyes go wide. She hadn’t believed Weiss when she’d said, back during the tournament, that she could command just as well as her sister. But here she was, telling everyone to step back without so much as speaking the words.

“Of course, Miss Schnee,” said the man, bowing his head. “My apologies.”

Weiss hummed. “It’s no trouble, thank you.” Her voice was much more serene now and Ruby saw how everyone relaxed. Without looking over her shoulder, Weiss said, “Shall we?” She started forward and Yang and Ruby jogged a few steps to catch up with her, watching as everyone else stared as they went.

“So, that was kind of amazing,” said Yang as they headed down one of the halls. “And hot,” she added, belatedly. Ruby made a face.

Weiss let out a quiet laugh. “Why thank you,” she said, in a falsely haughty tone, causing all of them to snicker. “Now, let’s go find Penny.”

Weiss led them down the long, bright hallway. Ruby wished she’d brought sunglasses. The fluorescent lights were slowly but surely giving her a headache and Ruby wanted to put her head in her hands and hide her eyes from all of it. Yang and Weiss didn’t seem bothered, so she kept going, trying not to think about the bright lights or her headache or how vulnerable she felt without her scythe. But maybe all of that – the headache and the lights – were just part of the last thing. Maybe she was just scared or anxious or something. Dad always told her that nerves could make everything seem bigger or louder than it actually was.

But she had every right to be nervous. They were breaking Penny out of what was basically a high-tech prison for robots. Androids. Synthetic people? Ruby wasn’t sure what to call Penny outside of just Penny. Penny was her friend, Penny was a person, did it really matter that she was made of nuts and bolts instead of flesh and squishy organs?

She wondered if Weiss and Yang had figured out why Penny was being held here, instead of at a regular house or prison or… something.

“I still don’t understand why Penny is being held here of all places,” said Weiss as they walked. _Well_ , thought Ruby, _that answered that question._

“What do you mean? If Dr. Polendina works here, it makes sense she’d be here at least sometimes,” said Yang, stretching her arm above her head.

Weiss frowned and hummed. “Maybe,” she conceded, “but the area Penny’s transmission came from is used to hold highly dangerous weapons. Unless Penny is some sort of, I don’t know, chosen one, I can’t see her being held here.” Weiss shook her head and tugged on her ponytail. “I’m worried about her.”

“So are we,” said Yang, patting Weiss’ shoulder. She looked back at Ruby and gestured for her to come forward. Ruby jogged up and stood on Weiss’ left side, smiling at her.

“We’ll figure this out,” said Ruby. “We’ll get Penny and General Ironwood back and then we’ll go save Blake from Mantle and everything will be okay.”

Weiss frowned. “I have a feeling we haven’t seen the worst of this yet,” said Weiss. “Something about all this seems a little too…”

“Convenient?” echoed Yang.

Weiss nodded. “Like when I asked my father to go to Beacon over Atlas. It wasn’t what it seemed then, and I cannot help but feel it’s not as it seems now.”

“What happened?” asked Yang.

A great shrieking noise came from one of the doors and it slammed into the wall opposite to it. From the research room came a hulking metal beast with glowing eyes.

Weiss sighed. “That, actually.”

Yang shifted next to Ruby, raising her fist, then faltered. “We… don’t have our weapons. _Shit.”_

Ruby raised her own fists and Weiss shifted, eyes flickering with power as she tried to summon her semblance without her weapon or Dust. It wouldn’t work, Ruby knew that, but that didn’t stop her from trying.

Then, the giant suit of armour went still and slumped forward, as though a puppet with its strings cut.

“Are you three all right?” The voice struck Ruby to her core. It was one she thought she’d never hear again, not after everything that had happened.

“Penny!” shouted Ruby, running for her voice. Penny came from around the suit of armour and grinned, opening her arms so that Ruby could leap into them and hug her tightly. “I’ve missed you,” mumbled Ruby against her shoulder.

“I missed you too,” said Penny, hugging her back. The two girls parted and looked back to the others. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

“We’re fine,” said Yang, shrugging. Penny’s gaze fell to Yang’s stump. Yang grimaced. “Yeah that’s uh, old news. Lost it to Taurus.”

Penny tilted her head to one side and pursed her lips. “The phrase is ‘an eye for an eye’ is it not?” she asked. She tapped her finger to her lips. “Does that also apply to other body parts – like arms?”

“Penny, you’re not cutting off his arm,” said Ruby.

“Why not?” asked Yang. She cocked an eyebrow at Ruby, looking amused. “He deserves it.”

“I don’t think General Ironwood would approve of dismemberment,” said Ruby in a quiet voice. There was a long moment of silence, then Yang grimaced.

“Yeah, probably not,” she agreed, rubbing the back of her neck.

“Penny,” said Weiss. “What are you doing here? This is my father’s company and you have nothing to do with him, do you?”

Penny shook her head. “Goodness, no! The Schnee company is…”

“I know,” said Weiss, when Penny trailed off. “Then why are you here?”

“Mr. Schnee wants me to rule his army as a general,” said Penny. “He says my ability to command machines makes me an ‘invaluable asset in the ongoing war against Atlas and its values’.” She shrugged. “I didn’t really understand most of it, he just sounded kind of… intense.”

“He does that,” said Weiss, drily. She looked to Ruby and folded her arms. “So, now what, oh fearless leader?”

Ruby frowned and looked from Penny, to Yang, to Weiss. “Penny, does he know about…”

“No,” said Penny, firmly. “I made sure of it the moment I realized I could interface with the computers here.”

“Good,” said Ruby. “I don’t think you’d still be in one piece, otherwise.”

Penny nodded. “Me neither.”

Ruby took a breath to steady herself and her thoughts before pushing forward. They needed a plan, and fast, before they ended up in deep, deep trouble. “Okay, you said you can interface with the computers?” Penny nodded. “Good, we might need you to hide yourself on the cameras, can you do that?” Penny nodded again.

“That doesn’t solve the problem of all the people back there,” said Yang, jerking her thumb over her shoulder. Ruby frowned. She was right. They could hide Penny from the cameras, and Weiss had permission to bring three people through the locks, but that didn’t mean people couldn’t see her.

“There’s another exit,” said Weiss. “The building is legally required to have service exits, in case of emergencies.” She pulled her Scroll from her pocket and started swiping through it. “I’m sure I have the blueprints around here, somewhere.”

Next to Ruby, Penny’s eyes glowed green for a second. Weiss’ Scroll lit up and her eyes went wide. Her gaze went to Penny, then her Scroll. She smiled.

“Thank you, Penny,” said Weiss. She tapped the screen and it floated in front of them, showcasing the blueprints for their floor. “As you can see, we’re here.” She pointed to a spot on the map where there was a little red dot. “And our exit…” She drew a line through the hallways, creating a dotted line on the map, which led to a small door on the far end. “Is here.” She tapped the map to zoom in. “If we can get there without being spotted, we can get Penny out of here and get to General Ironwood’s apartment.”

Penny frowned. “Mister Ironwood isn’t doing well, is he?” she asked.

“No,” said Ruby. She put her hand on Penny’s shoulder and smiled at her. “But we’re going to fix that, I promise.” Penny nodded and Ruby turned her attention to Weiss and Yang, who glanced at each other and frowned.

“Penny,” said Yang. “Why does Mr. Schnee need an army?”

Penny glanced from Yang, to Ruby, to Weiss. There, her gaze hesitated and she looked away a moment later, pressing her lips together.

“Penny,” said Ruby, more than a little worried. “What’s going on? How much do you know?”

“Please don’t be mad?” asked Penny, turning her attention to Weiss again. Her gaze locked with Weiss’ and Ruby didn’t think she’d ever seen Penny look so scared or so determined. It made the hair on the back of her neck raise and she couldn’t help the worry that trickled down her spine.

“Of course not,” said Weiss, voice firm.

Penny sighed, slumping forward a lot like how Ruby did. “He… wants to overthrow Mr. Ironwood. He wants to build a better army – with me as the field general – in order prove that the Atlesian Knights and Paladins are ineffective and thus, Mr. Ironwood is also ineffective.” She swallowed visibly and licked her lips, something else Ruby thought Penny had gotten from her. “But he doesn’t want to just get _rid_ of Mr. Ironwood.” Now, Penny’s gaze fell to Ruby. “I think he wants to run him out of Atlas and…”

She shook her head.

“And what?” asked Yang.

“Ruin his name? Destroy his life? Make it so he can never work again or be respected by anyone?” said Penny. She shook her head. “I don’t know. His files didn’t say.” She looked to Weiss. “I hacked into his personal computers and looked at all his correspondence. Your father is… not a nice man.”

“He’s an abusive, manipulative, callous asshole who is a sorry excuse for a human being,” said Weiss, folding her arms tightly across her chest. Her face was flushed and she didn’t look at anyone. Yang stepped up close to Weiss and slid her arm around Weiss’ shoulders. Weiss leaned into her.

“We need to go,” said Ruby. “General Ironwood will want to hear all this and we don’t want to get caught.” The others nodded and Ruby double checked the map that was still floating. She nodded to Weiss, who cleared the map, and the four took off.

They traveled through the labs in silence, carefully avoiding the people working down there as they went. There were a handful of workers down there, but even Weiss didn’t see m to think that her status and rank in her family would hold out down there. And Weiss was wound up now anyway. Enough that Ruby was worried. Worried about Weiss, about their cover, about everything.

Mostly just Weiss though. She couldn’t imagine what it was like, having a father who cared so little about your own well-being, about your success, or your life, or anything, really. How could you be a parent and not love your kid unconditionally? How could you not be caring and kind toward them?

Ruby didn’t understand. Her dad was great.

Maybe her dad could be Weiss’ dad too. Maybe that would make everything better.

“The door is up ahead,” said Weiss, her voice stiff and unfeeling. She walked with her head held high and her shoulders tense. Ruby saw that her hands were clenched into fists at her sides. Ruby was tempted to reach out and try to comfort Weiss, but she didn’t think she could.

She wasn’t sure if anyone could.

Someone came around the corner and all of them froze.

“Penny, hide,” hissed Ruby. Penny ducked into an alcove and disappeared before the guard turned to face them.

He narrowed his eyes at them. “What’re you kids doing down here?” he asked.

Weiss straightened, dropped all semblance of sadness or kindness, and locked eyes with him. “Do you know who you’re talking to?” She stalked forward three steps and stabbed a finger at him. “ _I_ am Weiss Schnee. _I_ am the heiress to this company. If you think for one instant that you have _any right_ —”

“S-Sorry, Miss Schnee. My mistake,” the man mumbled. He scuttled off and disappeared.

Yang and Ruby stared. Ruby couldn’t believe that Weiss was being so mean to someone. Usually she was much kinder.

But then, she was stressed out. And she’d probably be upset about it later.

Weiss sighed as the man disappeared. “You can come out, Penny.” Penny appeared from the alcove and glanced at the three. “Let’s go,” said Weiss, sounding tight.

They kept going. Within a few minutes, they reached the door. Penny reached out, eyes glowing for a second, and then the door swung open, the lights above it dark.

The four stepped out through the door, climbed the metal staircase in silence, and watched as the small square of light in the upstairs door grew larger and larger. The sounds of their shoes were loud on the metal stairs and no one spoke. Ruby wasn’t sure if it was because they were all nervous or they were all focused. Probably both.

Soon, the four were pushing open the last door and stepping out into the cold, snowy world of Atlas.

Yang, Weiss, and Penny turned to Ruby as one.

Ruby nodded. “Okay,” she said. “Let’s go find General Ironwood.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love!


	34. Beyond Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things start to come together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Onward!

James sat at one end of his couch, a cup of coffee forgotten on the table in front of him and his head in his hands. He had his elbows on his knees and his head hung, eyes closed and entire body one coiled knot of tension. Exhaustion clung to his bones and to his mind, leaving it sluggish and only half responsive to the world around him.

He hadn’t slept more than an hour at a time in three days. He hadn’t slept more than four at a go since he’d gotten back. He was dying. He knew he was dying. He knew he couldn’t do this anymore. The Council had won. Jacques was going to take Atlas.

And James Ironwood would fall, a forgotten chess piece in the ever-lasting game of good vs evil throughout the kingdoms and throughout history.

“Jim,” said Qrow. He rested his hand on James’ shoulder – his _right_ shoulder – and James couldn’t help but lean into it.

He was here. He was solid.

But for how long?

“You need a break,” said Taiyang, not for the first time. James shook his head. He couldn’t. But he had to. But he couldn’t.

Glynda had been there too. Glynda had told him he needed a break. But he hadn’t been able to. The Council hadn’t taken well to Glynda Goodwitch being back in Atlas and helping James out, and so James had ended up even _more_ overworked than before, if that was possible.

God, this entire situation was unbelievable.

“It always backfires,” murmured James. “Glynda tried, I tried, now you’re here to try. But you’ll leave. Everyone leaves.” James curled forward and rested his hands on the back of his head, squeezing his eyes shut at the onslaught of pain and fear that ripped through the exhaustion. “Everyone always has to leave,” whispered James. “For their own good.”

Qrow’s hand rubbed slow circles on James’ shoulder. James could feel the weight of their gazes on him, could feel the heaviness of their thoughts all around him.

He’d lost Penny. He’d lost his freedom. He’d lost everything. And yet here was Qrow, sitting next to him, wanting to talk to him.

But why?

“Why are you here?” asked James, his voice low and quaking.

“To help you,” said Qrow. His hand squeezed James’ shoulder, a comforting weight that grounded him, reminded him that he wasn’t alone, that he wasn’t about to fly away.

But he was alone.

“I can’t be helped,” said James, swallowing hard. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to shut down the mantra in his head. Tried to get it back under control. But it was spiralling away and he could barely keep up. “I’m trapped here.”

He was going to fall. Jacques was going to win.

The Council wanted him down.

He didn’t know how to fight back.

“James…” Qrow trailed off.

“What do you _want_?” James’ voice was a croak, barely there.

“What do _you_ want?” retorted Qrow. “We want to help. Tell me what you want James.” Qrow’s voice rose, low frustration building in it. “The Council is working you to death, they want to drive you out. We can’t help you if you don’t tell us what you want.”

James closed his eyes.

What did he want?

He was _tired._

He was _frustrated._

He was… he was _scared._

He opened his eyes and looked to Qrow, aware of the waver in his lip and in his voice. “I want…” He swallowed hard and shook his head. “I _don’t_ want to die.” He took a shaky breath. “I don’t want to die.” His voice cracked, a hoarse whisper at the end.

Qrow moved, shifting close to him and wrapping his arms around James’ shoulders and pulling him close. James’ arms slid around his lower back and pulled him even closer. James pressed his face into the crook of Qrow’s neck and Qrow pressed his into the same spot on James.

“We’re going to fix this,” whispered Qrow, pressing a kiss to the side of his head. “We’re going to get you and Penny safe and get the Council off your ass.”

“How?” asked James. He didn’t lift his head from Qrow’s shoulder. He never wanted to move again. He was content to stay here, breathing a scent he thought he’d never get again, holding a man he never thought he’d hold again.

Everything was fucked, but Qrow was here, even if only briefly.

But it would hurt all the more if he had to leave. And god, James didn’t want to think about that. Even if he was fairly certain that Qrow had to.

He didn’t want to let go again.

As James stayed curled against Qrow, waiting for an answer he was certain Qrow couldn’t give, there was a knock at the door.

Taiyang got to his feet.

James didn’t look up as he crossed the apartment and went to the door, nor did he look up when he heard the door open. It wasn’t until Taiyang shouted for James and he heard a strangely familiar gait – one that was learned far later in life and was far heavier than it should have been given its speed – that James realized what was going on.

“Mr. Ironwood!”

“Penny!” He was on his feet in an instant, stepping away from Qrow and pulling Penny into a tight hug as she reached him. She buried her face in his chest and hummed, her arms tight around his ribs until he felt them squeeze. “Easy,” he murmured, stroking her hair. “Easy.”

“Sorry,” said Penny. She pulled back and sniffled, smiling up at him with shimmering eyes. “I’ve missed you.”

“I missed you too,” he said, resting a hand on her shoulder. “Where have you been? I haven’t seen you anywhere in Atlas.”

Weiss was the one who spoke. “My _father_ was holding her in the SDC R &D department.” The ice in her voice made James’ blood run cold even as the words turned it boiling. He grit his teeth to bite back a curse and shook his head, releasing Penny to stare out the window and work his jaw, hoping to get his expression back under control.

“General Ironwood?” Ruby.

“Jim.” Qrow, of course. He was the only one reckless enough to nickname him. “Talk to me. What do we do? You want to tackle Mantle or Schnee first?”

“Jacques is a miserable excuse for a human being and if I had any idea how to drop him I would,” said James, bitterness sweeping into his voice. He glanced to Weiss, who stared at him with parted lips and wide eyes. “No offense to you, of course, Weiss.”

Weiss cleared her throat, ears turning pink as she looked away from him. “Quite frankly, General Ironwood, I would take being your daughter over his any day of my _life._ ” The slight crack on her voice made James’ expression go soft.

“I wouldn’t be opposed to it, Weiss,” he replied in a gentle voice. She smiled at him, eyes wet, and Yang threw her arm around her shoulders.

“Hey, you could always be my dad’s kid, he’s always looking to get enough of us for a baseball team,” said Yang cheerfully. She cocked her head to one side, lips pursed. “Wonder if I could play one armed…”

“I don’t think I could take being your sister,” said Weiss, slowly.

Yang cocked her head the other way and looked at Weiss, brow furrowed. “How come?” she asked.

Weiss bit her lip and looked away from Yang, ears pink. Yang blinked, pinked, and looked away as well. James cleared his throat to bring the attention back to himself.

His entire world still trembled around him, but he had Penny on one side of him and Qrow on the other. He had others who cared all around him and it was still _exhausting_ and he still didn’t know how to deal with everything. But at least now he had options.

“You mentioned Mantle?” said James, looking to Qrow.

“Blake is there,” said Qrow. “S’where Taurus and the Fang took her. Only way we’re getting her is with you.” James’ chest panged at the words. So, that was why Qrow was here, to get him to save his niece’s… something. He wasn’t sure what, looking at Weiss and Yang.

“Oh,” said James, quietly. He cleared his throat. “Excuse me.” He stepped out of the room, unable to hold back the onslaught of fear and frustration that billowed up in his chest and threatened to choke him.

“Jim!” Qrow’s voice, tinged with worry, and his hurried footsteps, followed behind James. James didn’t turn to face him. He simply headed into his room and let Qrow follow him. Qrow shut the door and James allowed himself to ball his hands into fists.

“Jim, what’s going on?” asked Qrow. His voice was close, like he was crossing the room.

“Penny can get you into Mantle. You don’t need me. I have work to do.”

“Oh, _fuck_ no,” growled out Qrow. James started and turned, looking at Qrow, who barred his teeth in a snarl and glared at James with enough force that James took a step back, eyes wide.

“Qrow?” His voice wavered.

Qrow stalked toward James and stabbed a finger at his chest, still glaring up at him. “You are _not_ going all martyr on us. I am not walking out of this apartment without you. Whether we go take down Schnee or we go take down Taurus or just go and get a fucking meal together, I don’t care.” His expression faltered, going soft and frustrated. “James, I’m not walking away from you again.”

“You don’t need me,” said James, softly.

“Doesn’t mean I don’t want you,” said Qrow. He stepped forward and rested his hands on James’ chest, staring up at him. James swallowed hard, his stomach lurching. “James…” Qrow hesitated, lips pressed together. “You didn’t listen to that message, did you?”

James shook his head. “No?” he said, remembering the blinking light like it was a thousand years ago. “Was it… important?” His voice wavered.

Qrow sighed. “Yeah,” he said, “but nothing I can’t say again.” He leaned in, breath ghosting James’ lips and, before James could process what Qrow was going to do, Qrow kissed him.

They’d only kissed a handful of times since this all began. Most of it had been for the cameras, even if James’ emotion behind it had been real. But the night they’d shared together had been full of genuine kissing, and James hadn’t realized how much he’d _missed_ it until Qrow kissed him, here, in his bedroom.

It was like coming back to life.

He took Qrow’s face in his hands and pulled him close, cheeks wet with tears as Qrow wrapped his arms around James’ neck and pressed them chest to chest.

They hung like that, mouths moving against one another’s, breath mingling between them, for a length of time James didn’t dare try to define, and when they pulled back, they rested their foreheads together, and James let out a broken laugh, cracked with tears.

“Hey,” said Qrow, sliding his hand forward to swipe the tears from James’ cheek. James leaned into the touch, closing his eyes. “I’m not leaving again. I… _fuck_ we need to talk, don’t we?”

James shifted his hands to rest his on Qrow’s wrists. “Yes,” he said quietly, “we do.”

Qrow let out a soft huff of breath that tickled James’ face and reminded him that he’d never shaved when Glynda had told him too. She’d shown up, ordered him to shower – he had – and nap – he had – and she’d marched off to the Council to try and sort things out.

They’d told her to get out of Atlas. Ordered her, actually, claiming she was a threat to national security. Thankfully, she’d already called Beacon, or else Qrow and Taiyang wouldn’t be here. The girls wouldn’t be here.

Penny wouldn’t be here.

“Last time we properly talked was… the night we had sex, wasn’t it?” asked Qrow, wincing slightly. “Shit, that’s… that’s something.”

James squeezed his hands over Qrow’s and offered him what little smile he could manage. “Indeed it is,” he murmured. “Qrow, I…” He shook his head. “Why did they all come?” He glanced toward the door. “Why do they all want to help me? Blake, I understand, she’s their friend, but… I’m. I’m nothing to them.” He looked back at Qrow. “Nothing.”

“Actually, you’re family.” Both men jumped. Standing in the doorway, having appeared in the seconds between James’ glance and words, was Taiyang. He pushed off the wall and strode toward them; James and Qrow separated and James caught the way Qrow’s mouth twisted into a half-hidden grimace as he rubbed his face with one hand.

“Family isn’t just blood, James. I’ve told Qrow that a thousand times. You figure with how much he loves _Ruby_ , he’d understand that by now,” said Taiyang, casting a look to Qrow. Qrow rolled his eyes, but said nothing. Taiyang clapped James on the shoulder. “You’re my brother now, I told you that. That makes my daughters your nieces, and I’m sure Weiss would have a field day if you called her family.” Taiyang scowled. “God knows she needs someone that isn’t _him._ ”

James opened his mouth, then closed it. He couldn’t exactly argue with _that._

“And Penny? You think she’s your family already, right?” asked Taiyang.

“She is,” agreed James.

Taiyang grinned and poked him in the chest with his other hand. If he noticed there was no give in his right shoulder or on the right side of his chest, he didn’t say anything. James was grateful.

“Precisely,” said Taiyang. “Now, come on, we have work to do.” He slung his arm around James’ shoulders, an entertaining feat, considering James had a good six inches on him, and pulled him back toward the living room.

James cast a glance at Qrow, who shrugged, and allowed James to lead. Qrow followed after, his hands stuffed in his pockets.

“We need a plan,” said Taiyang, when they got back to the living room. He pulled his arm from James and ruffled Ruby’s hair. “We have to go after Blake first, after that, we’ll do something about Schnee. But I don’t want her in Taurus’ hands any longer than she has to be.”

James nodded, pressing his lips together. He watched how everyone stared at him, waiting for him to say something.

“Jim, if you come with us, that list of yours ain’t getting done,” said Qrow, quietly. “We need you, god knows I want you with us, but if it destroys your chances of keeping your job…” He trailed off, looking up at James with soft eyes and thin lips.

James swallowed. “If what you’re saying about your father is right, Weiss,” he started, looking to her. She nodded. “Then he’s committing treason against Atlas by planning to overthrow its current leader.” The words were strange in his mouth, talking about Jacques like a common criminal, but also calling himself something he didn’t often.

Leader.

General and Headmaster all in one. He was their leader. Even if he didn’t always act like he should. Even if he rarely believed he deserved it.

James cleared his throat and stood as tall as he could. “If Jacques is committing treason, then I have no choice but to gather evidence and have him convicted. I… will not say I suspected he would go this far, but I did suspect he’d move against me.” James shook his head and let his gaze sweep across the six that stood before him. “Mantle first, Jacques can wait.”

“And your list? Your job?” asked Qrow.

James frowned. “If we’re right about Jacques, the Council will forgive me for slacking to bring in a pair of highly dangerous criminals.”

“And if we’re wrong?” asked Weiss, frowning.

“Best case scenario? I’m put on probation and have half of my duties taken away,” said James. He looked at Qrow, who was watching him with narrowed eyes. “Worst case scenario? I lose Atlas.”

“You willing to take that risk?” asked Qrow, folding his arms over his chest.

“I am,” said James. “Let’s go to Mantle.”

“First, we’re getting you to shave,” said Qrow. “Much as I like the beard, you look like a homeless person.”

“You always did like facial hair,” mused Taiyang, rubbing his chin. Ruby and Yang both made a face. James’ lips twitched.

“Right,” said Qrow, drawing out the word. He rolled his eyes and looked to James. “We gather supplies, you get cleaned up. We’ll make a plan and we’ll head out. Good?”

James nodded. In any other scenario, it’d be him making the plans. But he was exhausted, he was worn down, and he needed to recover. He would happily follow Qrow right now.

Or any other time, really.

“Thanks, General Ironwood, for all your help,” said Yang.

“As Qrow and Taiyang keep telling me, family is far more than blood relations, Yang,” said James, softly. “I think it’s time I helped my family out, don’t you?”

Yang smiled. “Yeah, sounds right. Let’s kick some ass!” The girls all let out varying whoops and followed Taiyang as he led them out to get supplies in the city. The door slammed shut behind them and Qrow and James were alone.

After a moment of silence, James said, “Thank you, for coming after me.”

Qrow smiled at him, something soft in his eyes that James couldn’t place, but it felt impossibly familiar. “I’ll always come after you, Jim,” he said in a quiet voice. “Now, come on, let’s get you cleaned up.” He clapped James on the shoulder and led him into the bathroom, leaving James to wonder about Qrow’s tone and Qrow’s gaze as they swapped plans while he shaved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love!


	35. The Lost Kingdom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The road to Mantle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we go, the final arc of the story. Not long now, folks!

Qrow had never been to Mantle, not properly, anyway. He’d heard stories of it, of course, but then, everyone had. The world didn’t exactly lose an entire kingdom in a final, terrible stand and not know about it. Not that people actually _talked_ about it, at least not frankly, outside of history class. Mostly what you got, beyond the one, maybe two, if you were lucky, classes in school about Mantle, were rumours, gossip, and urban legend.

The most famous urban legend was that of the Grimm Dragon. Rumour had it that the dragon was what had turned the tide against the soldiers in the end. A monster that made more monsters couldn’t be fought by traditional means. Soldiers had to pull out. Mantle had been lost.

Or so the story went.

In reality, the end of the battle came when the soldiers had been split on three fronts from the Grimm. With all of them so scattered, the city had been taken by the monsters. Its people had died. Its walls were meaningless.

And that was the end of Mantle.

Still, Qrow wondered about the rumour of the Grimm Dragon. Wondered if it meant anything or was simply a spun-together tale from the giant Nevermores and the griffons that had swarmed together to take the city from the skies.

It bothered Qrow, that no one knew why the Grimm had come for Mantle the way they did. It bothered Qrow that no one had a good answer as to why they’d suddenly risen up from the shadows and destroyed the kingdom. But no one had answers.

Oz might have. But Qrow wasn’t exactly keen on talking to the headmaster these days.

Fucker.

As it stood, Qrow, Tai, James, and the four girls were all on an airship, flying toward Mantle despite the grey weather and promises of thunderstorms. Qrow’s gaze kept flickering toward the window, watching the gathering clouds. It was cold, and he’d never seen thunder snow before. He knew Solitas got it, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to be around to be in it.

And that was assuming they even made it to Mantle. The heightened Grimm activity had never really gone away after the fall of Mantle. Too many negative emotions connected to the place.

Too many dead.

Grimm always stuck around on graveyards.

Qrow closed his eyes and rested his head against the cool glass to ground himself. A hand fell on his shoulder and he tilted his head, opening his eyes. James smiled at him, soft but there, and Qrow managed one of his own back.

“You all right?” asked James, his voice low. Behind them, Ruby slept against Taiyang’s shoulder. Across from them, Yang, Weiss, and Penny were playing cards.

Qrow shrugged and straightened up, shifting to put his back to the wall of the ship and draw his legs up into the seat. “Could ask you the same thing,” he said.

“I wasn’t the one who was captured by Taurus and held hostage,” replied James, still speaking in a low voice. He frowned, slightly, at Qrow.

Qrow shrugged again and wrapped his arms loosely around his legs. “I can handle it. More worried about the Grimm. There ain’t exactly a lot of us going in here.”

“As long as we stay positive, they shouldn’t pay us any mind,” said James. He frowned, glancing over to the girls for a moment, before returning his attention to Qrow. Qrow had to strain his ears to hear James’ next words. “Most of them are too old to care about us.”

Qrow swallowed hard. “That’s what I’m afraid of.” He didn’t finish the thought. Didn’t particularly want to. He and Raven had fought Goliaths before.

Qrow didn’t really want to do it again.

Fuck, that was what STRQ _did_ , way back. Take on the Grimm no one else could. It was why they were so revered, once upon a time. Not that it mattered anymore.

STRQ was gone. It was never coming back. Qrow was the only one that was still an active huntsman. Even if Taiyang tried, sometimes, he wasn’t back on his feet quite yet. Which made Tai’s presence a little worrisome.

Qrow didn’t know if Tai would ever be on par with other huntsmen again. He was carrying around too much fear and too much guilt in order stand on his own. Not that Qrow could talk, but hey, at least he had ways to block it out.

Bad ways.

Ways he hadn’t brought to Atlas, and maybe that was why he was finally thinking about all this shit. He’d been spending far too much time stuck in his own head lately, alcohol be damned.

A drink probably would have been useful about now.

“You think they’ll attack us?” Taiyang’s voice, low, but loud enough for Qrow and James to hear it. Yang’s head came up, her brow furrowed.

“Doctor Oobleck told us that Goliaths don’t care about humans,” said Yang. “Not unless something really big happens to draw them all.”

“He said they were waiting,” mumbled Ruby. Qrow turned around in his seat to see her eyes fluttering open as she sat up. She yawned and rubbed at them, grimacing and smacking her lips. Qrow knew that taste well. Nap taste. He’d never been fond either.

“What are they waiting for?” asked Weiss, setting her cards face down.

Penny locked eyes with James and Qrow looked between the two as they seemed to have a silent conversation. Some part of Qrow wondered if that was even possible, considering Penny could talk to machines and James probably had a plate or two in that skull of his. Probably not, though. James wasn’t a machine. Just had some metal parts around.

Qrow was fond of those metal parts.

“It’s… complicated,” said James. He shifted, expression changing to something both sympathetic and neutral. Qrow knew that expression well. It was the same one professors adopted all over the world when they were about to tell their students something they didn’t want to hear. “It’s true that, in most of the world, the Goliaths are waiting for something. No one is sure what, though I’m sure you could ask Ozpin.” The bitterness in his voice made Taiyang snort.

“You guys really don’t like him, do you?” asked Yang. Weiss frowned, looking between the adults from where she sat. “Why not?”

“He keeps a lot of secrets, kid. The older we get, the more we realize that,” said Qrow. He looked to Taiyang, leaning around to look over the back of his seat. Taiyang sighed and tightened his arm around Ruby’s shoulders. Ruby didn’t seem to mind. “They ain’t always nice secrets.”

“No, they are not,” said Taiyang. He sighed again. “I’d tell you girls what they are, but I don’t know enough myself to do it. I don’t think any of us do. Needless to say, Ozpin is… something. What, I’m not sure, but something.”

“So, he knows something about the Goliaths?” asked Yang.

“Could it be related to why Ruby was admitted early?” asked Weiss.

Ruby perked up at that, looking curious.

“I don’t know,” said Qrow, shaking his head. He looked at James, who frowned, and at Taiyang, who shook his head and looked away. “Jim, you know something about the Grimm in Mantle?” Qrow prompted, hoping to change the subject.

Based on the flicker in James’ eyes, he knew what Qrow was doing, but, thankfully, he didn’t say anything about it.

“The Goliaths in Mantle are different,” said James, frowning. “Qrow was right to say we should be afraid of them. I forget sometimes that they’re not what I’m used to. The Goliaths in Mantle are _active_ Grimm. They’re awake.” James frowned. “They may be too old to be paying us any mind, but I forgot, when I first said that, that they tend not to care about the normal rules of Grimm.”

Yang sat up properly and turned in her seat, pulling her legs in close. “So, they’ll come after us?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” admitted James. “I don’t know a lot about Mantle. Their defenses, I’ve studied extensively, but the Grimm are… different there. As though being around so many ghosts and so much death changed them.”

“They’re more powerful,” said Ruby. It wasn’t a question. There was a firmness in her voice that made Qrow look back at her. She stared right back at him, something in her silver eyes that made Qrow’s breath catch.

She looked just like Summer had, the last time she’d walked out of Patch.

History wouldn’t be repeating itself here. Qrow wouldn’t let it.

“Yes,” said James. “But we should be able to avoid them.”

“And if we can’t?” asked Weiss.

“We pray,” said Qrow.

Silence.

“Anyone wanna go home?” asked Qrow.

“After that uplifting speech?” asked Weiss, drily. She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Hardly. Your scare tactics won’t work on us, Mr. Branwen.” She looked at James and her expression went a bit less haughty. “With respect, of course, General Ironwood.”

He cracked a smile at that. “Of course.”

The flight continued with the seven making plans on how to use stealth tactics to avoid the Grimm, find the White Fang, and get out before anything bad could happen. Qrow knew, in the back of his mind, that it wasn’t going to be this simple, that they were going to step out of the ship and step into a world that few had since the fall of Mantle, many years prior.

They were walking into graveyards and battlegrounds, into monster pits and into the unknown. Into a world filled Goliaths and packs and possession-type Grimm and god if Qrow didn’t hate them. One had once possessed his sword and he’d had to fight his own damn weapon.

Bad luck Branwen, as his sister had called him. His own semblance turned against him almost always. It had potential to be great, but it always got bogged down into a curse.

That was what he’d told Adam, anyway.

And here, in Mantle, where the Grimm ran wild and the fear and hatred of the world was at its peak, Qrow could be a massive hindrance.

He didn’t want to get anyone hurt.

James nudged his shoulder as the ship started to make its descent. “Ready?” he whispered.

“Is there such a thing?” muttered Qrow in return. James furrowed his brow at him, but Qrow waved him off. “I’ll be fine. Let’s go.”

The ship touched down and, one by one, the passengers got up and headed down the ramp and out onto the frozen ground.

“I’ll keep the ship here as long as I can, General, but if the Nevermore get too close…” The pilot trailed off, rubbing the back of his head.

James waved him off. “Keep yourself safe, first and foremost. We can handle ourselves. Thank you, for all your help.” The pilot gave a little salute and headed back into the ship, pulling the ramp back up with a push of a button. With that, the four teens and three adults were alone in the frozen tundra.

Qrow rubbed his arms beneath the coat. It was colder here, with the open land all around them bar one direction, and the sun would be setting in a few hours. Qrow had to wonder if they’d be done by then. He doubted it. They’d be making shelter here, somewhere.

His gaze turned to the fallen kingdom of Mantle as he thought about where to make shelter.

None of team STRQ had ever entered Mantle before. Qrow had flown past it once or twice, seen pictures, heard stories, watched videos. But he’d never stepped foot in the city himself, alone or with his old team. No need to, seeing as he mainly did missions in Vale or in Mistral.

The great stone walls that had once protected the city were now crumbled in chunks, leaving gaping holes into the ruined city beyond. The watchtowers that dotted the walls were likewise destroyed, with only one still standing. Its bell was shattered, probably by bandits looking to make off with the metal years ago.

Inside, the city was worse. Even through the holes in the wall, Qrow could tell that. Buildings that were ruined by fire or destruction, there were dead husks of plants that had tried to grow over them. There were dark patches in the shadows of buildings where snow had never fallen and blood had never been quite cleansed from the hard, unforgiving earth.

And a prickling across the backs of his shoulders as he stared into it all.

_Mantle._ The youngest of the four kingdoms, once. The one that had fought tooth and nail to stay alive. The one that had nearly won the war against Vale and Vacuo.

Now, nothing more than an empty shell of ruin and lost dreams. Of the dead and the dying.

He swallowed hard.

He hated fallen villages.

He’d found Summer in one, when…

Well.

When.

“Stick together,” said James. “Our first priority is high ground and shelter. We need a place with as much of a vantage point as we can find.”

Ruby frowned. “Shouldn’t we split up to cover more ground?” she asked, scratching her head.

“You don’t split up in Mantle,” said James, firmly. Ruby nodded. The girls clustered between James and Qrow, who stood at the back, and Taiyang, who stood at the front. “Taiyang, take point. You’re our best shield.”

Taiyang gave a salute and led them into the city.

Qrow looked to James, watching the way the tension bled into his body, leaving him strung tighter than Qrow. Qrow rested a hand on his arm and frowned up at him.

“When was the last time you were here?” asked Qrow in a soft voice as they moved toward an entrance to the city. His sword was heavy on his back, his senses alive as he kept one eye and ear out for Grimm.

“Five years ago,” whispered James. He took a deep breath. “I had to come collect a team of my students.” Qrow watched James, knowing there was something else to the story. In a voice so low that Qrow almost didn’t hear him, he said, “They left in body bags, Qrow.”

Qrow stared at James, horror sinking in his stomach. “Gods,” he breathed.

James nodded, licking his lips. “Yes, that…” He shook his head and took a deep breath. “That’s why we’re here, Qrow. To make sure no other children leave in such a manner.”

Qrow nodded in return. “Right,” he said. “And we will.” James offered Qrow a small, sad smile, and the two kept walking. Together, the seven headed into the broken city, and toward whatever the White Fang had in store for them next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love!


	36. Return of a Friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I enjoyed writing this chapter quite a bit - it was in the new plan pretty early on, so I actually knew what I was doing. Hope y'all enjoy it!

When James had been in Atlas Academy, he’d dedicated an enormous amount of time to studying the progression of defenses from Mantle to Atlas and post-founding Atlas. His teammates had claimed that the time he spent was unnecessary and could be better suited to other things, like combat training. Of course, they’d stopped with that argument when James started beating them in 3v1 fights in unarmed combat.

Now, it seemed as though his rather _unique_ fascination with defense protocol was about to come in handy. As Taiyang led the seven into the fallen kingdom, James’ gaze swept the streets. The wall defenses were down. He’d expected as much, as the power grid had been largely destroyed in the fall of Mantle.

What little power had been restored to Mantle was centered around the middle of the city, probably in the city centre. The city hall, the armoury, and maybe a few other central buildings at most would have been priority for the White Fang. That left the rest of the city in the dark, so to speak, and with the heavy cloud cover over the city, as well as the soon-to-be setting sun, that darkness would soon be much more literal.

Then, the Grimm would come. Then, they’d need to be much more careful.

“All right, James, give us the overview. What’re we looking at?” asked Taiyang, calling back to him. James stepped up beside Taiyang, gaze sliding over the buildings as he went. He pressed his lips together and cocked his head, listening.

Howls, faint, but there. He put them about two clicks outside the city.

They’d come, once they caught the scent of the six of them. He wasn’t sure if they’d catch Penny’s, but they’d sense her aura, once they got close.

How did the White Fang survive in this city? They had to be filled with more negativity than anything within a twenty-mile radius. They should have drawn the Grimm in droves, and yet the streets seemed empty.

There was something he was missing.

“Security measures in the outer districts are off,” said James. His voice rang through the streets and he bit back a grimace. It’d been a while since he’d fallen into ‘General voice’ without thinking about it. He’d forgotten how well it carried out here, with so little to block it.

Few plants, just abandoned buildings, fallen stones, and, somewhere, two sets of nigh identical monsters. One set human, one set shadow. Mostly, anyway.

“We’ll need to approach the city centre from the shadows, keeping away from any security measures the White Fang has turned back on,” James continued. He dropped his voice so that it no longer projected out into the city. “I suspect the armoury was one of their first priorities.”

Qrow frowned as he stepped up next to Taiyang. The six watched him, no one moving as they stood amidst the fallen buildings. “How much trouble are we in if they get into it?” asked Qrow, folding his arms over his chest.

James hesitated, racking his brain to remember what was in the armoury. Mantle hadn’t advanced as quickly as Atlas, not by a long shot, and the fall of Mantle meant the fall of Alsius as well. The school itself had largely been non-functional by that time, so, thankfully, most of the Dust crystals had been removed and most of the custom weaponry had moved with its students and its staff into Atlas Academy.

“Dustpowder weapons, mostly,” said James. At the confused look on Weiss and Yang’s face, he went to continue.

“Dustpowder was what we used before aura-Dust combination weapons were common,” Ruby chimed in before James could. She hopped up next to James and spun around, striking one finger into the air. “Dust was ground into powder and then packed into slots in weapons in order to fire off metallic and explosive rounds.” She straightened, rocking on her heels. “Modern weapons typically use a much more streamlined process which uses much less metal, if any metal at all, in the bullets, as we can enhance the impact with our auras!”

“Uh,” said Weiss, blinking a few times. “How do you know that?”

Ruby cocked her head to one side. “Weapons are easy, Weiss. It’s people that are hard.” Ruby shrugged. “Besides, Dustpowder is a very important part of weapon theory. Yang and I both use modified Dustpowder bullets, which use silicon and synthetic material for our rounds instead of a metal base. That way, we’re not using precious, non-renewable resources, and the difference is made up for in aura.”

Qrow cracked a grin. “Except it’s not, kid,” he said.

Ruby sighed and slumped forward. “Okay, fair, so Dustpowder weapons hit a _lot_ harder, that’s why they’re largely outlawed.” She looked up at James. “Except for you, I mean. Your gun is pretty famous for being one of the only high-impact fully-Dustpowder weapons used in modern Remnant.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Is it true that you can one-shot an alpha Beowolf if you hit it in the head?”

James felt a smile tug at the corners of his mouth. He was starting to understand why Ozpin had recruited Ruby so young. Even people using modified Dustpowder bullets and mechanisms – like Yang – rarely tried to understand the mechanics of what they did beyond the surface.

Ruby truly was something else.

“I can, if need be,” said James. His weapon didn’t use aura, unlike most others, but that was largely due to how little he had to spare. Even a few shots working solely on aura could drain him these days.

One of the many disadvantages he’d picked up after his accident.

“That’s _so cool_ ,” whispered Ruby, her eyes practically sparkling as she stared up at him in awe.

James cleared his throat, nodding to Ruby, before turning his attention back to the others. “Right, we’ll be dealing with Dustpowder weaponry and older traps throughout the city, rather than modern rounds.” He frowned, remembering something else. “There’s also the possibility of landmines in the city.”

That got a few looks from even Qrow and Taiyang, and James winced.

“When the battling in Mantle grew too strong and the Grimm overtook the outer edges of the city, what was left of the population teamed up and combined their Dustpowder and shrapnel weaponry,” said James. He rubbed his face, images flashing behind his eyes. Images from his archived footage in the Atlas Academy library, taken by reporters who had gone to Mantle to tell the truth, even if it meant they’d never return.

“They planted the mines under the streets, drawing the Grimm to them,” he said. “There’s probably several still active. We’ll need to be on guard.”

Taiyang let out a low whistle and shook his head. “That’s a hell of a thing to use against the Grimm.” He patted Yang on the shoulder and smiled at them all. “I should be able to keep us safe, if we set one off. Weiss, think you can help?”

Weiss gave a sharp nod and straightened up, and James saw the pride that flickered in her eyes at being given such an important task.

He wondered what would happen to Weiss, as well as Whitley and Winter, if Jacques went to jail. If Jacques lost the family name – a name he had taken by force.

He felt for Willow, sympathized with her on a scale few he knew could.

He knew what it was like to be forced to live under the thumb of a man who cared not for his family, or empathy, or even for his children, but instead cared only for the name that was attached to the person, and the power that came from the name.

In all his years of knowing Jacques and being forced to spend time with him, James had rarely interacted with Willow, and he’d even more rarely seen her interact with her children. He wondered how she was holding up, if she was holding up at all, and how she felt about her children.

He hoped he could keep her, and her children, from falling if Jacques was pulled away from them.

“Hopefully it won’t come to that,” said James, scanning the buildings. There was a glint in one of the old towers, nearer to the centre of the city, though still a ways out. A clock tower, if James was correct, and a powerful place to camp out. They just had to get to it first.

Qrow stepped up to James and bumped their shoulders together, following James’ gaze.

“I don’t suppose you’re willing to scout?” murmured James. He saw the confusion flicker in Qrow’s gaze before it settled on realization. It wasn’t something James would have asked in another situation. He still wasn’t sure how Qrow’s transformation worked, or even if he could control it.

But they didn’t have a lot of options right now.

“Yeah,” said Qrow, shrugging. His voice was gruff. “Yeah, I can do that.” He laced his fingers together and stretched them over his head, taking a deep breath. His knuckles cracked and he glanced to James, then to the skies. “Hey kids, wanna see a magic trick?”

James’ eyes went wide. Qrow couldn’t possibly be serious. James wanted him to go scout now – though, truthfully, he simultaneously didn’t want Qrow to leave. It was dangerous, after all – but to do so out in the open?

But then, they hadn’t spotted any scouts. They were probably safe.

Probably.

“Magic trick?” echoed Weiss, wrinkling her nose.

Qrow chuckled and rolled his neck. Then, he ran two steps forward, leaped and flipped over in mid-air, and in a flurry of feathers was suddenly a crow.

Crow-Qrow spiralled up into the air before swinging back down to land on James’ shoulder, cawing quietly.

The girls all stared. Qrow gave another caw, nuzzled James’ cheek, then flew off into the sky in search of the White Fang.

“Is that his semblance?” whispered Weiss.

“Nope,” said Taiyang. He rested his hand on her shoulder. “His semblance isn’t nearly that useful.” There was a touch of bitterness to his voice and James sighed and looked away from them all, instead turning his gaze toward where Qrow had disappeared.

Taiyang wasn’t wrong, unfortunately. Qrow’s semblance was one James had grappled with in the past. On a good day, Qrow tipped the scales of luck in his favour, twisting everyone around him into good luck charms and allowing them to coast through their days.

On a bad day, however, Qrow did the opposite, twisting good fortune to bad and cursing himself, letting everything good fade away until nothing remained.

Unfortunately, he was more prone to bad days than good.

“We need to keep moving,” said James, his voice echoing across the buildings despite his best efforts. He grimaced, rubbed his face, and gestured for the others to follow him.

They traversed through the streets on mostly silent feet, each was armed with their typical weaponry, which they’d picked up from the checkpoint just outside the Atlas dockyard. There were strict rules on weaponry here, and James had had to pull rank in order to get Ruby’s scythe back to her. Qrow’s, thankfully, hadn’t been nearly that much of a problem.

Licensed hunters never were.

Even if they were known loose cannons, like Qrow, or those with older licenses, like Taiyang. Not that Taiyang actually fought with a weapon, as far as James could tell. Even when they’d clashed at the Vytal Festival, over two decades prior, Taiyang hadn’t carried a weapon. He’d never needed one.

They didn’t call him the Dragon of Vale for nothing, after all.

“Really wish we had Blake right now,” said Yang. James glanced back at her and saw Weiss raise an eyebrow at Yang, who shrugged. “Look, I get that we’re here to rescue her, but this would be a _lot_ easier with her here. She knows way more about the White Fang than the rest of us.” A moment of silence as Yang grimaced and rubbed her face. “I mean,” a hesitation, “she was a member.”

James’ eyebrows shot up. He’d known, of course, because of the confrontation with Adam Taurus, but it was something else entirely to hear her teammates and friends bring it up.

“Is that why Taurus kidnapped her?” asked Taiyang, frowning. James turned his attention back to the streets. He needed to be on guard, just in case something happened. Penny was walking alongside him, her eyes glowing faintly from time to time as she scanned for old weapons and bombs.

He didn’t know if she’d be able to sense them. Whatever Polendina had done with her in Atlas, it had given Penny a set of abilities that James wasn’t familiar with. He wondered if she could only sense computerized technology, or if it was metal as a whole. Either way, she was probably completely aware of what she was walking next to now, being on his right side.

James wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He hoped she knew enough not to ask about his right side around others. She wasn’t always well-versed in social norms.

Not that that was a bad thing, but it could prove troublesome, just this once.

“Nah,” said Yang. She snorted behind James and he narrowed his eyes at a flash in a nearby building. What was that? “He’s just a power-hungry predator with a thing for teenage girls.” She let out a low growl. “ _That’s_ why we’re gonna kill him.”

“We’re not killing anyone,” said Taiyang. James’ hand went for the gun he hid in his greatcoat. He saw the shuffle of shadows, even at this distance. _Scouts._

“Down!” shouted James as the flash shone again. Everyone hit the ground, James flattening himself to the wall as the asphalt was torn up by a handful of bullets. They struck the ground hard and fast, shrieking against the rubble. “Damn it.”

Another rattle of a gun in the distance, louder than it should have been. The buildings were making everything echo a hundred times over, making it impossible to track exactly where the noise was coming from.

James cast a quick glance over his shoulder to the others. Penny pulled Ruby off the street, where she’d been hiding behind rubble, and the two ducked behind the building behind James, bullets following them. Taiyang shielded Weiss and Yang as he pulled them to the other side of the street. Holes appeared in his shirt in rhythm with the gunshots, but he didn’t flinch.

Taiyang snorted and cast a crooked grin at James once they were all hidden. “If an explosion can’t hit me, neither can these outdated chumps,” he said. He flipped his hair out of his face in a gesture that wasn’t unlike Qrow’s own.

_Qrow._

James hoped he was safe. _Shit._

More gunfire. James scanned the streets for a place to go, but they’d walked right into a trap. The building the gunshots were coming from looked perfectly over the street. There was no way to move forward or back without getting hurt, and even with Taiyang’s semblance, James didn’t want to risk any more aura draining than absolutely necessary.

There had to be _something._

“Do you hear that?” asked Penny at his side. She cocked her head to one side, eyes flickering. James cocked his own head, but he heard nothing but the gunfire.

Then, he saw the steam rising up from a crack in the road.

_No._

“Tai!” shouted James. His voice was cut off by the explosion. Heat and noise and light ripped through the street. James covered Penny’s body with his own, bracing for impact as his eyes and ears were taken out.

But it never came.

James turned back to the street, expecting to see Taiyang standing where the bomb had, but instead, he saw a glowing purple barrier.

It was a colour he knew as well as his own name.

“Glynda,” breathed James.

She stood in the middle of the street, having turned the explosion back toward the scouts. It hadn’t gone far enough, but James could see the smoke billowing on the other side of the barrier.

“Miss me?” she asked, pushing up her glasses with her free hand. “We’ve got about thirty seconds before that smoke clears. What’s our plan, General?”

James spied the side street behind where Taiyang was standing with a very wide-eyed Weiss and Yang. “Follow me,” said James. With his ears still ringing, he crossed the street, gesturing for Penny and Ruby as he went, and Glynda followed after. The barrier didn’t drop until they were safely headed down the side street.

“How are you here?” asked James, looking to Glynda. The last time he’d seen her, she was being escorted out of Atlas by Atlesian soldiers, who’d been told that Glynda’s ex-exile status made her a threat to national security.

Glynda snorted and folded her arms, her crop still held in one hand. “Did you really think I was going to walk away from all this?” she asked, cocking an eyebrow. “I called Taiyang and came here. I knew you’d catch up.” Her eyes twinkled behind her glasses. “You always do.” The amusement in her voice, coupled with the smidgen of warmth in her eyes, made James smile despite himself.

“So, what’s the plan now?” asked Taiyang. The four teenage girls watched the three adults with more than passing curiosity. “We need to find Taurus and take down the Fang, but how?”

“Yang made a good point,” murmured James.

“We are _not_ killing him,” said Taiyang, firmly.

James gave him a hard look. “Why not?” asked James. “He’s not high up enough in the Fang to become a martyr, and he’s a predator, besides.” He narrowed his eyes and stepped toward Taiyang. “He will escape. He will gather his forces again. He will not be stopped until there is a bullet in his head.”

“We are not judge, jury, and executioner, James,” said Taiyang in a low voice.

“My title allows me two of the three on given day,” said James. He squared his shoulders and stared down Taiyang. “Now, which one, pray tell, would you like to play instead?”

Taiyang said nothing, his gaze sliding away from James.

“I won’t intentionally kill him, not if it’s unnecessary. However, if Adam Taurus dies in this firefight, I doubt the world will mourn,” said James. He turned his attention to the sky, hearing a low caw, and ignored the looks of confusion, hope, and doubt that split across his companions.

A crow circled the group before heading for the ground, transforming into Qrow partway down, who dropped to the cracked street without a sound.

He flicked her hair out of his eyes and looked to James. “I found them,” said Qrow. “I found Taurus and Blake.”

“Then let’s go,” said Yang. “We came here to save her, let’s go.”

James shook his head. “It’s not that simple.”

“Why not?” asked Weiss, stomping one foot.

“You got scouts headed this way. I know a place to hide – the clock tower we saw. It’s close,” said Qrow, looking up at James. He ruffled Ruby’s hair when she stepped in close.

James nodded. “We camp for the night to ensure the Grimm don’t cage us in. We’ll make a plan, refuel, and head out at dawn. Then, we’ll go get Blake. Understood?”

He got various nods, some of them reluctant. Yang was the last one to nod, and she scowled as she did it. James made note to have Penny keep an eye on her tonight. He didn’t want Yang running off on some fool crusade to save her partner.

“Right, let’s find shelter then,” said James. He turned to Qrow. “Qrow? Lead the way.”

Qrow nodded and took point, gesturing for the others to follow. “All right. Let’s go. Keep an eye out. I can only do so much. And be quiet.” He headed through the side street, toward the taller piles of rubble, where the bombs had been air-dropped, so many years ago.

James fell in line with Glynda, keeping his voice low as he spoke to her. “Thank you.”

Glynda nodded. “I said I was done watching people I loved die, James. I meant that,” she replied in the same low voice.

James bumped shoulders with her and smiled, pleased when Glynda smiled back. The two kept moving. There was still a long way yet to go before Blake was safe and this was over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love!


	37. The Long Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's start resolving some things, shall we?

The group of eight made their way into an old church, at the top of the attached tower. The church wasn’t big enough to have a proper clock or bell tower, so instead they took refuge where the stained glass should have been. There were still some glass shards here and there, but Glynda and Weiss had taken care of most of them.

Now, it was just after midnight, and Qrow was perched in one of the window sills, one leg drawn up and one leg draped across the window sill. His gaze scanned the city, looking for light, for movement, for anything, really.

He hadn’t seen anything yet, and he wasn’t sure if he would. They were still a ways out from the Fang, and even they weren’t stupid enough to send scouts out looking for them with Grimm roaming the streets.

As if in answer to his thoughts, a beowolf howled in the distance. Its brethren howled in return. The night air was cold on Qrow’s skin, ruffling his hair in the slight breeze. High above him, and above the fallen kingdom, the moon watched them all – partially full, mostly shattered.

Sometimes, Qrow caught himself wondering what had shattered the moon, or if it had ever been full at all. Most of the time, he knew it didn’t matter. That the shifting of the phases only meant a change in light in the night, and a change in safety for the people he loved.

Qrow glanced over his shoulder, back toward the small room he was holed up in, and through the doorway to the larger room where everyone was sleeping. He knew that, soon, he’d have to wake Tai up for his watch. But he didn’t really want to.

He probably wasn’t sleeping tonight, so what was even the point of waking up someone else? He could keep watch. He could keep them safe.

So long as he kept his distance.

Qrow sighed, his air a puff of white in the night, and looked back out onto the city. He could faintly pick out the movement of Beowolves and Creeps down in the streets. There were probably other Grimm in the city – bigger, angrier things that would jump at the chance to tear Qrow apart for his melancholy.

Just another way he’d failed the people he loved. His own frustration and despair with himself was a beacon for the monsters. Qrow had seen them glance up to his hiding place more than once. Their glowing red eyes and smoky bodies standing out in the white and grey expanse of Mantle, even so late at night.

There was a shuffle of movement behind Qrow, an uneven gait that betrayed who it was without Qrow having to turn and look.

“Hey, Jim,” said Qrow, voice soft. James stood at the other end of the window, looking out of place. They were all still fully dressed, each done up in cold weather gear, but he and James had both forgone hats, even so late at night. Even now, in the shadows of the night, James’ eyes stood out – a beacon of colour amidst the monochrome grey of a world Qrow had never quite been able to stomach.

He’d only ever tried – Mantle, Atlas, Solitas – because of James.

“See anything?” asked James. He was cradling a steaming thermos in his right hand. It was odd, to see them both covered, but Qrow knew it was for the weather.

Qrow shook his head. “Nah,” he said. He cast his gaze back out over the kingdom, eyes narrowed as he scanned for any changes. “Just us and the monsters, ‘m afraid.” When he noticed James was still standing, awkwardly, Qrow gestured to the end of the window sill and took his leg off the ledge, letting it dangle inside the building instead.

James sat down, holding out the thermos to Qrow. “Which ones?” he asked, a touch of bitterness to his voice.

“Does it matter?” asked Qrow.

Taking the thermos, Qrow chuckled under his breath at James’ furrowed expression. He spun the cap off the thermos and took a long swallow. Coffee, undercut with something sharper that had his eyebrows shooting up at James.

James only shrugged, taking back the thermos to take a swallow of his own. “Keeps the heat in our extremities,” he murmured. Qrow nodded. Not always the smartest move, but it’d work for now. Besides, they both knew it was just an excuse. That they needed it for an entirely different reason as well.

They didn’t call it ‘liquid courage’ for nothing, after all.

“We should probably finish our plan at some point,” said Qrow, leaning back against the wall behind him. He kept staring at the kingdom, tracking the movements of the beowolves almost absently.

“There will be time enough for that in the morning,” said James, voice soft. He took another, smaller, swallow, and looked out onto Mantle as well. “You know, Mantle fell when I was a kid.”

“Yeah?” asked Qrow. He took the thermos from James and took another swallow of his own. The bitter warmth spread through his chest, and Qrow pretended that was the only reason his chest was warm.

It didn’t work, but he pretended anyway.

James nodded. He shifted, back against the edge of the window and gaze soft as he stared out at Mantle. Qrow thought he saw history in James’ eyes, like a flashback playing out in his mind, but it was just a trick of the moon in his faraway gaze.

“It was how my mother died,” murmured James. He shook his head and turned his gaze to Qrow, mouth twisted into a grimace. “Best not to dwell on the past in a place full of monsters.”

“Which kind?” asked Qrow, voice just as soft.

James’ lips twitched. “Does it matter?” he asked.

Qrow shook his head. “No. Not really.” They both fell silent for a long moment, both turning their attention back to the streets of Mantle. Down below, Qrow could see beowolves stalking the streets, trying to sniff them out. Thankfully, they were all too high up for the Grimm to find them, beyond the occasional confused glance, or else Qrow wondered if their collective despair wouldn’t draw the Grimm.

Ruby probably helped. Her and Glynda. Those two had scarily positive auras, despite their lives. It tended to keep the Grimm at a distance.

“Can I ask?” asked Qrow, careful not to lift his voice, half in fear of breaking the moment that surrounded them and half because he didn’t want to chance waking up the others in the next room. “About your mom?”

James sighed and Qrow was tempted to redact his question, even if he was curious. But then, James began to speak, “I was probably six, seven years old, when Mantle fell apart.” His words carried on the wind to Qrow’s ears, but no further. James kept staring out at the streets of Mantle, broken as they were, and Qrow saw how his eyes went faraway again.

Barely four feet from him, but a million miles away all the same.

“My father and mother were both hunters, you know that part, and they knew the previous general.” James took a deep breath, and it shuddered on the way out. “When he asked them to help him lead an army to save Mantle from the Grimm, they agreed. My father, he survived the fight, unfortunately.” James’ mouth and words twisted into a bitter grimace. “But my mother…” He shook his head. “She died. And no one knows quite how.” James let out a bitter laugh.

Qrow wanted to reach across the distance between them and hold James close, but he didn’t dare. He wasn’t sure how James would take it.

“It could have been friendly fire, a Grimm, a falling building. All the General knew was that one moment he could sense my mother’s aura, and the next…” James shook his head, eyes shining with unshed tears. “The next she was gone.” He sighed, hanging his head. “Mantle doesn’t exactly have the best memories for me.”

Qrow pressed his lips together. “I’m sorry,” he said, after a moment. “For bringing you out here, and… for your mom.”

James turned his gaze to Qrow, eyes still shining and a bitter twist to his lips. “I chose to come out here, Qrow, for Blake.” _For you_ , Qrow thought he might have said, silently. “Besides, we all have to face our fears, sooner or later.”

Between the steadiness of James’ gaze and the phrasing of his words, Qrow knew that James meant a lot more than just Mantle and ghosts of his mother. He didn’t know how to respond to it, wasn’t sure there was a way to do it.

So, instead, Qrow let them sit in silence for a minute or two, hoping James would eventually speak so Qrow didn’t have to decode his words and try and find the right answer.

“We’re a fucked-up pair, aren’t we?” asked James. Qrow’s eyebrows shot up at the bluntness of the words, and at the bitterness that coated them.

But he couldn’t find fault in those words, either.

“Yeah,” agreed Qrow. “We sure as hell are.” Qrow shook his head. “You know, we were supposed to talk, in Atlas.”

James nodded, his gaze on Mantle. The cool wind blew through Qrow’s hair, ruffling it and chilling him. “We were,” he agreed. He sighed. “You know,” his gaze came back to Qrow, “you never told me what was on that message I erased.”

Twisting his mouth into a grimace, Qrow rubbed the back of his neck. His fingers were cold, his gloves resting on the floor next to the window.

“That we were here for you, that Oz and Glynda would agree with me, that…” _That I love you._ “That you didn’t have to do this alone.”

“Oh,” said James. Qrow almost swore James sounded disappointed. He tried not to read into it.

“You know, I never got to thank you,” said Qrow, trying to brush off James’ tone.

James frowned at him, brow wrinkling and nose scrunching up. “For what?” he asked.

Qrow’s mouth quirked into a small smile. He wasn’t sure if it was bitter or not. “For saving my life.”

“Oh,” said James. Qrow wasn’t sure how to read his tone. Disappointed? Confused? Something, at least. Something that spoke of how distant James was at the moment.

“I know you have a lot going on, and I know you and I have been… well, you said it best, we’re fucked up, Jim.” Qrow let out a bitter laugh and brushed back his bangs. “Hell, we ruined a good thing pretending to be fucking married for the sake of the public.” He couldn’t help the haughty tone that entered his voice as he said the last few words.

James snorted, something like amusement flickering across his face for a moment. Just as quickly, it was gone, however, and James was staring out over Mantle with bitterness in his eyes and in his voice. “It was a mistake.”

Qrow grimaced. “Pretending to marry me?” he asked.

“Not dating you first,” replied James. His gaze swung toward Qrow, and the depth of it – of the despair, the hope, and the _love_ in it – made Qrow’s breath catch in his throat. “I should have asked you out, long before this all started.”

Qrow swallowed hard and found his voice. “I would have said yes,” he said, voice a croak. He licked his lips and didn’t miss the way James’ gaze flickered to them as he did. “God, I would have said yes years ago.” He swallowed hard. “Fuck, Jim, you left for Atlas while I was _unconscious._ ” A topic change, but something that had been bothering him all the same. Something he needed to say before he lost his nerve.

“I had no choice,” said James, quiet.

Qrow shook his head. “I get that, but you could have fucking left a _note_ , or something. You could have left Tai with something, he would’a told me.” Qrow scrubbed his fingers through his hair. “ _Fuck._ ”

“I…” James shook his head as well, looking away. “It was easier, to cut everyone out.”

“And to waste away to nothing?” asked Qrow.

James said nothing.

Qrow put one leg back on the sill and stretched it out, nudging James’ leg with his boot-covered toes. James’ gaze swung back toward Qrow, brow furrowing once more.

His face was gaunt. His eyes, haunted. But the colour was coming back to his skin now, and not just because of the cold.

He looked more alive than he had back in Atlas, and with every passing hour, the life slowly bled back into James, regardless of his history with Mantle.

Qrow was glad to have gotten him out.

There was a long pause between the two, then, James spoke, barely above a whisper. “I never got to thank you.”

“For what?” asked Qrow, cocking his head.

James looked him in the eye. “For saving my life,” he replied.

Qrow sucked in a breath, the weight of James’ words slamming into his chest. “Oh,” he managed, voice cracking. There were no other words he could find, or at least, none that would work. It was one thing to save someone from Taurus, from the physical, from the warehouse.

Another thing entirely to save someone from themself.

“I…” _I love you._ “I’m here for you, Jim.” _Say it._ “Always.” _Just say it._ “You know that, right?”

“I’m starting to,” said James. He lifted his right hand and, hesitantly, peeled off his glove. Then, with trembling fingers, he reached toward Qrow. Qrow met him halfway and tangled their fingers together, revelling in the familiar, welcome cold of James’ fingers, as opposed to the unfamiliar, unwelcome cold of Mantle.

“You think we can take down the Fang?” asked Qrow, his voice soft in the breeze. The cool air clung to his cheeks and left them flushed, a mirror to the flush on James’ cheeks, which he figured was also from the cold. “Just us?”

James’ lips twitched, a touch of his usual confidence coming back if only for a second. Qrow was never sure how much of it was show. He wished he did, but James’ confidence changed with the stars, though with a lot less reliability.

“It’s not _just_ us, Qrow,” said James. He squeezed Qrow’s fingers in his own. “We have help, as you and Taiyang keep reminding me. We have Glynda and Penny, Taiyang, Ruby, Yang, Weiss.” James smiled at him, soft and a little unsure. Qrow smiled back and tightened his hold on James’ hand. “I think we have a chance.”

Qrow nodded, but there was something he remembered about the warehouse, with Taurus, that clung to his mind.

“Aura piercer,” said Qrow. He shifted forward half a foot to hook one leg over James’. Frowned at James with a furrowed brow and pursed lips. “What did Taurus mean by that, way back?”

“It’s… a theoretical semblance,” said James, slowly. He was frowning and his eyes went faraway, a haze crossing them. It was a sign of how deep in thought he was. His fingers loosened on Qrow’s and Qrow scooted even closer, nudging James’ legs apart so he could sit, cross-legged, between them. He laced his other hand with James’ and pressed his lips to the cool metal knuckles.

James smiled at him, though his eyes were still troubled.

“It needs a weapon,” said James, “in order to focus it.” Qrow nodded and scooted further forward, shifting to swing himself sideways. James raised an eyebrow, but continued. “An aura piercer works much like Yang or Taiyang’s semblances. It focuses absorbed energy – absorbed through the weapon – before striking out in a single, focused attack that ignores aura or other modifiers.” Qrow frowned and shifted to put his back against James’ chest, leaning back against him with their legs tangled together in front of them. James rested his chin against the side of Qrow’s head, his arms sliding around Qrow’s waist.

“That’s how he took Yang’s arm,” said Qrow, softly. He rested his arms and hands atop James’, tangling their fingers together.

“Precisely,” murmured James, next to his ear. Qrow nodded, brow furrowed, and felt the way his hair tickled the edge of James’ face. James didn’t protest. In fact, his arms and legs tightened against Qrow, pulling him closer. “If he can do that at any given moment…”

“He could kill one of us,” finished Qrow. He grimaced and shifted his head in a sort of half shake. Not enough to jostle James. “ _Fuck._ ”

“At the very least, he could take another limb,” said James, squeezing Qrow’s hands. “We’ll figure it out.”

“Yeah,” said Qrow. He tilted his head to squint back and up at James, who raised an eyebrow at him. “Shouldn’t _I_ be comforting _you_?” he asked, a tad amused. James shrugged. “You just don’t like people taking care of you, do you, Jim?”

James opened his mouth, closed it, and sighed. Qrow didn’t expect him to answer, but he spoke. “I’m not much for feeling vulnerable, in truth.” His voice was a murmur in Qrow’s ear, barely there. “I’m… learning that I’m allowed to be, sometimes.”

“But habit wins?” asked Qrow.

“Usually,” said James. He tightened his arms on Qrow. “I’m working on it.” Qrow nodded and settled back against James, scanning the area for Grimm. There were some on a nearby rooftop – Beowolves, of course – but they were far enough down that Qrow wasn’t worried about them. Nothing in the area seemed to be interested in them for more than a minute. They weren’t easy prey. Grimm that young went for the easy stuff.

The Goliaths that James thought were somewhere around here were another story. Qrow had a feeling that they’d need to sneak around them. Goliaths around places like this went one of two ways – really bad, or really passive.

It was never fun to figure out which.

“Qrow?” asked James, after a minute of silence. Qrow hummed, still looking. “What… are we?”

Qrow opened his mouth, closed it, and pressed his lips together. “Married?” he guessed, only half joking.

“Qrow.” It was funny, sometimes, how much James could convey just by saying Qrow’s name. This time: exasperation, a want for a serious answer. Most notably, fear.

Qrow sighed. “I don’t know,” he said, softly. He squeezed James’ hands with his own and stared at their joined hands. James had one uncovered, Qrow, both, and Qrow’s knuckles were turning red from the bite of the cold. He wondered how James felt the cold, what with how cold he already ran. Did it even bother him? He didn’t exactly have nerves in his right hand.

Could he turn it off?

Could he feel anything other than pressure?

Maybe Qrow should ask, sometime.

Not now though. Now he was just avoiding the question.

“Me neither,” said James. He pressed his face into the back of Qrow’s head, burying his nose in Qrow’s hair. Qrow bowed his head so James could do it more easily, curling himself as tight against James’ chest as he could. “I…” James sighed.

“I know,” said Qrow, lifting James’ fingers to kiss his knuckles. “I know. This entire thing is shit, Jim. I know we need to fix it all, but…”

“We need to fix the rest of the world first,” finished James. He sighed. “Do you ever wish we weren’t so selfless?”

“All the time,” said Qrow. He chanced shifting his head to rest his forehead against James’ cheek. James hummed and held him tightly. “But we wouldn’t be us if we weren’t self-sacrificing dumbasses.”

James snorted, the feeling rattling through Qrow’s head. It wasn’t unpleasant, just sort of there.

“World would be a much worse place,” said James.

“Atlas’d be shit and you know it,” said Qrow, in return.

James’ exhale was mostly silent laughter. He kissed Qrow’s forehead and Qrow hummed and leaned into the contact.

“Maybe,” conceded James. “But only if Jacques was in charge, as opposed to say, Glynda.”

Qrow shivered. “Gods help us all if Glynda gets in charge of a military superpower. She’d make homework mandatory for the entire _kingdom._ ”

“Don’t let her hear that,” said James. Both of them chuckled, the sound soft and warm between them. Qrow rested his cheek against James’, shifting further up so that he could do so reasonably. James leaned into him and closed his eyes. Qrow closed his as well and ran his thumb over James’ metal knuckles.

“We’ll figure us out sooner or later, Jim,” said Qrow, voice barely a whisper. “We don’t… _have_ to put a name to what we are, you know that, right?” Qrow sighed. “We can just… _be._ ”

“The world thinks we’re married,” murmured James.

Qrow shrugged. “Let them think what they want. We’ll be what we are and let everyone else say what they want.” He paused, letting the words wash over them both. In the distance, a Beowolf howled. Qrow didn’t think much of it. He just kept his attention on James, on their tangled bodies, and on their steady rhythm of James’ heart against his back.

Pressed this close, Qrow could feel the regular beats like they were his own, and feel the way his own heart synced itself with James’ the longer they stayed there. But the cold was seeping into Qrow’s veins and bones and he knew that it had to be wreaking havoc on James as well, Atlas native or not. No one was meant to stay out in the cold this long, especially not someone with a partially metal spine.

He needed to wake up Taiyang for his watch.

He never wanted to move.

“You think that will work?” asked James.

Qrow opened his mouth to say ‘of course’, but a better answer reached him in his hesitation. And, as he began to speak the words, the last piece in his head clicked into place, and everything that had happened over the last few months began to make a _lot_ more sense than it had before.

“Jim, our whole friendship is unconventional and not about explanation. I’m a lower class, womanizing, _spy,_ and you’re the ritzy leader of Atlas’ school, military, and probably its council, if you wanted.”

“I…”

“You have two votes. If you really wanted to take over, you could. You just think you deserve what they do to you,” said Qrow, words coming out a lot harsher than he meant for them to.

James tense, relaxed, sighed. “Probably,” he muttered. “Do you really believe we were that unconventional as friends?”

“You saying you don’t consider us friends anymore?” asked Qrow.

James hesitated, then, “Do you?”

“Yeah,” said Qrow. He tilted his head to look at James. “I just think we’ve become something else too.”

“And what is that ‘something else’?” asked James, watching Qrow with soft eyes.

Qrow sighed. “I guess that’s what we have to figure out,” he said. He shifted a bit, leaning against James’ shoulder with his side and stared up at James, who stared back. Qrow didn’t bother trying to hide the emotions that flickered around his face. Wasn’t even sure what they’d be, beyond hope. “You up for it?”

James looked out over the city, then looked back at Qrow. Doubt lingered on his face, but Qrow reached up and cupped James’ cheek in one hand, running his thumb over James’ cheek. James leaned into the touch and gave Qrow a soft smile.

“I think I am,” said James.

“Me too,” said Qrow. He settled back against James, who tightened his arms around Qrow and rested his cheek on the side of Qrow’s head. “We should probably wake up Tai so we can sleep.” Qrow’s words were a murmur, barely audible even to himself.

“In a minute,” said James.

Qrow nodded, but only just, so as to not disturb James. “Yeah, in a minute,” he agreed. The two settled in to watch the city a little longer, silent and content.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love!


	38. Split

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to @Lydia_Rogue for this chapter, as she is the one who gave me the idea for the final push for this story. Everything that happens until Chapter 40 is her fault, folks.

Morning came and James awoke to Qrow curled against his chest, the two of them tucked into a corner in the room with everyone else. Taiyang, who was perched in the window, winked at him when James caught his gaze, and James looked away, ears warm. It had been a long night, filled with heavy conversation and the sounds of Grimm far below. Now that daybreak had arrived, James’ mind was a little clearer, but the sky was not.

Even from where he was laying, he could see the heavy clouds other Mantle, and the snow falling throughout the fallen kingdom. He sighed, the cold already stealing into his bones and leaving him uncomfortable despite the blankets. A long night and a longer day, it seemed. The snow would muffle their movements, but it would also make for slow going. He didn’t know how long Blake had, or even what Taurus would do to her.

Based on the state Neo and Qrow had been in when James had found them initially, it wasn’t good.

The snow also meant that their odds of being tracked had just increased tenfold. Their footsteps would be too numerous and too deep for the snow to cover quickly, which would leave a trail that could be tracked for probably a quarter mile or so.

Needless to say, James wasn’t looking forward to it. Not in the least.

But first, he had to get up.

With a quiet sigh, James nudged Qrow. As he tried to wake up Qrow with little nudges, he looked around and saw that the others were all still passed out. Ruby had curled herself into Yang and Penny, with Weiss on Yang’s other side. Glynda was asleep, sitting up, crop in her lap. James felt a pang of sympathy for the woman. She seemed lonely. Not just in sleep, but in general.

He wondered if there would ever be a way to change that. He wondered if she wanted it changed, or if she was merely content to stay hidden from the rest of the world behind a mask of emotional distance and power.

James knew, better than anyone else, what it meant to hide behind your ability and your position, and how well it worked to keeping people from getting close. Even if Glynda had friends, and she did, himself included, she seemed terribly lonely.

But James supposed that was the price you paid, to be the right hand of one of the most powerful figures in the world. God knew Winter had the same problem.

Qrow stirred against his chest and James smiled, stroking his hair with his right hand as Qrow lifted his head and blinked sleepily at James. Qrow returned the smile with a lazier one of his own and shifted himself so that he rested his chin on his arm across James’ chest.

“Morning,” murmured Qrow.

“Morning,” replied James. The two lingered a moment longer, but James knew there was work to be done, so he nudged Qrow and Qrow reluctantly, and with a quiet sigh, pushed himself upright and slid away from James.

Qrow cast a look over the others, who slept on, and raised an eyebrow at James. James shrugged and pushed himself upright as well, nodding to Taiyang. Qrow looked over his shoulder and spotted Taiyang, who gave a little two-fingered salute. Qrow nodded and pushed himself to his feet, heading over to Taiyang on silent feet.

James got to his feet, grimacing at the pull in metal and bone alike – a protesting pain that told him he’d spent too long asleep in the cold, on the floor, with another weight above him. They’d even given up their extra blanket for the girls, last night, having only three between them. They needed to stay warm more than the adults did.

Not that Taiyang seemed to need a blanket at all.

“Come on, girls,” said James, softly, as he walked over to them. He crouched down, pain be damned, and nudged Penny’s shoulder. “Up we get.” The ability to sleep to recharge had been James’ idea, a way to make Penny feel more human. Of course, her cells technically didn’t need the six hour rest the girls had been given – they were efficient – but that didn’t change that she liked it, nor did it change that she liked the company.

“Do we have to?” asked Ruby, reflexively curling as Penny sat up and the blankets fell from Ruby’s shoulders. “It’s so _cold._ ”

“It’s Solitas,” said Weiss, grimacing as she pushed herself off the cold ground. “It’s _always_ cold.”

Ruby groaned and stood up, rubbing at her arms, James was cold just looking at her. Despite the winter gear they’d all worn, they needed to stay nimble so they could fight. That meant losing layers in exchange for thinner, more flexible thermals. But even thermals couldn’t keep out the Solitas cold, especially not with the amount of metal they all tended to walk around with – swords, scythes, gauntlets, guns. Body parts.

It was a tricky balance to strike, and one that James had spent most of his childhood and adolescent years trying to perfect.

Of course, he ran the risk of hypothermia a bit more than others, what with his prosthetics, but that was something most didn’t need to know. He could handle the cold, even if it was digging into his bones and leaving him more than a little sore.

He rolled his right shoulder, rubbing it with his gloved left hand, and looked to Glynda.

“How’re you holding up?” he asked, as she pushed herself to her feet and shook herself off.

She shrugged and rolled her shoulders, flicking her bangs out of her eyes. Of all of them, Glynda wore the least number of layers. Well, bar Taiyang, but he didn’t count, seeing as the man was a living, breathing furnace due to the way his semblance worked. He suspected Yang would probably grow to become much the same – coats, boots, hats, gloves, but all thinner than everyone else’s. Only time would tell how similar their semblances truly were.

“You know the cold doesn’t bother me,” said Glynda. It was true, James had never seen Glynda actively dislike weather. It didn’t suit her image of ‘unflappable, indestructible huntress’.

“Why not?” asked Ruby, rolling up the blankets and handing them to Weiss, who tucked them into one of the packs.

Glynda raised a slim eyebrow and, in a perfectly level voice, replied, “My heart is already made of ice, Miss Rose. I don’t think the outside world is capable of getting nearly as cold.”

Ruby’s eyes went wide and she stared at Glynda, looking a tad worried. “That’s… kind of dark, Miss Goodwitch.”

“And we are in an abandoned kingdom full of monsters and Grimm,” said Glynda. She flicked her wrist and the packs all sorted themselves and sealed. “I’m allowed to be a tad morbid.”

Ruby tipped her head to one side, eyes narrowed, then gave a slow nod. “Okay,” she said, drawing out the word. “Miss Goodwitch, I think you’ve spent too much time around my Uncle Qrow.”

“Hey!” protested Qrow with a squawk. Ruby snickered, and both Glynda and James broke into wide smiles, with Yang giggling alongside Penny.

“Always causing trouble, huh, Ruby?” said Taiyang, striding over to them all. He ruffled Ruby’s hair and shouldered one of the two bags, looking to James. “We ready for this?” he asked.

And just like that, the tone of the entire morning changed. James looked from Taiyang, to the four teens, to Glynda, to Qrow. They all watched him, silent and wondering. There was hope in Ruby’s eyes, determination in Yang’s, and fear in Weiss’. She hid it well, but her expressions were nigh identical to her sister’s, and so James could spot them well enough.

With one last glance out the broken windows, which showcased the snow, the clouds, and then encroaching fog, James gave a nod to Taiyang.

“We’re as ready as we can be, given the situation,” said James. He shouldered the other pack and looked over them all. “I won’t lie, this battle will be hard and there is a high chance of injury.” Yang’s hand went to her stump, but she said nothing. James gave her a small nod and she smiled, weakly. “But there will be no casualties today. We will find the White Fang, we will bring back Blake, and we will bring all those needed to justice.”

“Then we’ll go after my father?” asked Weiss, sounding hopeful.

“Then, we’ll handle Jacques,” said James. His glanced to Qrow, whose mouth quirked up on one side.

“Think your sister might want him first,” said Qrow.

Weiss narrowed her eyes. “You don’t even _like_ Winter,” she said.

“Nah,” agreed Qrow, easily. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and shrugged, his sword folded on his back. “Doesn’t mean I don’t respect her, and doesn’t mean I don’t know exactly how much both you and her would love to get a hold of your father for what he’s done.” He cocked an eyebrow at Weiss, who cracked a half-smile at him. “Shall we?” asked Qrow, looking to James.

James nodded. “Let’s move out.”

The eight descended the rickety stairs of the shell of a building, heading back to street level. There, most of them pulled up their hoods, and then they were stepping out from the shelter of the building and back into Mantle.

Immediately, the snow bombarded them, raining down hard enough to send pinpricks of pain skittering across the back of James’ neck, which was only partially covered to the weather. Taiyang handed him a red scarf, and James took it gratefully, winding it around his neck. The snow still pelted down, half hail and half snow, but it staved off most of it.

James hoped it didn’t get any harder, or it might start going at their auras.

“You can barely see out here,” called Yang, holding a hand over her eyes and squinting. James squinted as well, looking up and down the streets. The thermal sensors closer to the city centre would be able to find them, even in this cold, but none of them could see.

“I can see,” said Penny.

“So can I,” said Ruby. “We’ll lead?” It was a question, no doubt directed to James. He nodded, only to realize a moment later that with the layers, it probably wasn’t that visible.

“Take point,” said James. “Glynda, stay with them. Even if your visibility is low, you should be able to protect them, should something happen.” He lifted a hand to shield his eyes. They still hadn’t moved. The snow pelted around them and the cold dug at his bones.

They needed to start moving.

Once Glynda and the girls were in place, the eight started forward, half shuffling, half marching, through the foot of snow that had fallen in the night.

It was dangerous and slow going, but they managed to start moving. Just like yesterday, they marched together through the streets, moving between the tall, hollow buildings. At the very least, they were walking with their backs to the weather, so even with the heavy snowfall, their faces weren’t getting beaten by it all. It gave them some visibility, but not much. A heavy fog had descended with the snow, and the clouds above were growing darker by the minute.

“Hey, General Ironwood?” Yang called back. James shifted his gaze to her. “Is it true that Solitas gets thunder snow?” she asked.

James hesitated a moment, gaze going back to the clouds. He really hoped they _didn’t_ get thunder snow today. He didn’t want to deal with the darkness, the noise, and the lightning. Mantle was full of metal in its city centre, due to the armoury and security building, and James could make an accurate guess that they would be the first target for any lightning strikes.

And it had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he absolutely _hated_ thunderstorms. None at all.

“Yes, not often, but we do,” said James, still eyeing the clouds. He dragged his gaze back to the others and studied the buildings around them. His eyes were already stinging from the cold and they had a long way to go. “Hopefully it’ll hold off until we get out of here.”

He needed to check in with the pilot, get him back here when this was over, but that could be handled later. Once they had Blake and once they ensured the kingdom wasn’t getting blown to hell by the White Fang. There was also the risk of Grimm, but they were minor compared to everything else, unless they ran into Goliaths.

“General Ironwood!” Ruby’s voice was sharp from the point. She burst into rose petals and skid to a stop behind James, eyes wide. “Look.” She pointed, hands shaking, and James followed her gaze. At first, he saw nothing, just fog, then, the shadows in the fog began to form up.

_Shit._ Speak of the devil and they shall appear, as the saying went.

The shadows stepped from the fog, revealing the great, elephant-like beasts of the Goliaths. James grabbed for his gun reflexively, only to draw back when he realized that it was hidden beneath his layers and that the Goliaths probably wanted nothing to do with them. Hopefully, anyway.

Quickly, he scanned the streets, and found a storefront with a broken window.

“Everyone into the building, now!” he called. He grabbed Weiss, who was lagging, and pushed her toward the building. She ran for it, as did everyone else. James was last in, leaping over the sill where the window had once been. He spun around, holding out one hand when he saw Glynda and Qrow reaching for their weapons.

“Hold,” he said, watching. “Hold.”

The Grimm paused outside the store and turned, looking at the eight inside with impassive expressions. James held his breath, his hand still raised to tell them all to hold. He wasn’t sure what to expect. The Goliaths seemed context to simply watch them, observe, instead of move forward, but the weather was getting worse, they were walking through a city with people in it, and James didn’t want to take any risks.

“Jim,” said Qrow.

“Don’t move,” breathed James. He stared at the Goliath that watched him head-on. Whether it was a show of being frozen in fear, or a show of being confident in his plan, James didn’t know.

The Goliath turned and walked away from them all, and its brethren followed. James let out the breath he’d been holding, relaxing against the wall next to the opening. Around him, the others relaxed as well.

Qrow grinned at him, relieved and exhausted all at once. He took a step forward, obviously going to say something, and James smiled back and waited.

Then, the roof collapsed atop them.

James heard the screams before his own shout registered. His head rang and pain ripped through his left side, alerting him to the part of the roof that had pierced his shoulder. The smell of blood struck him hard, and James couldn’t be sure if it was his or if it was someone else’s. Shouting rang out, people calling for each other, but it was all covered by a great scream from outside – high and shrill and outside the range of anything – monster or man – that James knew.

_Grimm._

Ancient Grimm. Older than even the Goliaths.

“Move!” shouted James, shoving the fallen beams off himself. He crawled out from under the beam that had pinned him, cursing at the pain that burned through his left arm. The blood smell was stronger now, and he saw Yang limping, cradling her stump, which had broken back open. The screaming continued. The rest of the building shook.

James grabbed a shirt from a rack and grabbed Yang, pulling her from the collapsing building. The two ran, a third and fourth pair of footsteps joining James’ and Yang’s as they managed to scramble into another building. James spun, drawing his gun and taking aim. The Goliaths were gone. Nevermore circled overhead. James _felt_ the spike in Qrow’s aura as he took a hit.

_They needed to get back there._

Glynda grabbed his arm – the third pair of footsteps – and Ruby drew her scythe – the fourth. Glynda lifted her arm, eyes glowing, and glyphs swarmed the building, lifting everything into the air. The Nevermore screeched and launched themselves at James and the others. Ruby and James fired off shots in unison, the Nevermore shrieking – one of them exploding – and pealing off.

“We need to move, James,” said Glynda in a commanding voice. James cast a glance back to the store – he faintly made out someone running in the opposite direction as them, and something _big_ following after them. The screaming, quite abruptly, stopped.

In the moments after, the sound of howling wind and falling sleet and snow seemed almost silent in comparison.

_It was hunting._

The thought struck James low in his stomach, but he nodded. “Ruby, help me with Yang,” he said. He disappeared into the store they’d hidden in and went to Yang, who was leaned against the wall. Together, the two pulled off her jacket and ripped the shirt into strips to wrap the broken open scabs and new scar tissue of her stump.

“Shit,” hissed Yang. “That hurts.”

James nodded. “Always does,” he murmured, flicker-flashes of his own time adjusting to such pains dancing behind his eyes.

“You’re hurt,” said Ruby, looking at him. James looked to his left shoulder and grimaced. The pain ebbed and flowed with the beating of his heart, but the blood seemed to have stopped. He was grateful for that at least.

“Best just to leave it,” said James. “It’s probably clotted against my shirt, if we try to get to it, it’ll break open again.” He eyed the shirt strips wrapped around Yang’s arm as Ruby helped her get her coat back on. “And we’re fresh out of bandages.”

Glynda came back into the building, the sharp click of her heeled boots appearing amidst the snow and sleet and wind as she reached where the snow hadn’t yet fallen into the building. “What now?” asked Glynda.

“We have to go after Dad and Uncle Qrow,” said Ruby. “Right?” She looked to James, and Yang straightened, nodding.

“Yeah, and Weiss and Penny. Whatever brought down that roof went after them,” said Yang.

Ruby frowned, casting a look over her shoulder. “What _was_ that thing?” she asked.

James swallowed hard, hating his next words almost as much as he hated this damned kingdom. “I have no idea,” he said, voice lower and hoarser than he’d meant for it to be. His mind went back to the last time he’d been in Mantle. The blood, the bodies, the body bags.

There hadn’t been enough left of one of them to fill a coffin.

He swallowed hard against the bile in his throat.

“We move for the White Fang. If Qrow and Taiyang are smart – which they _are_ – they’ll head for the most populated part of the kingdom to get that thing’s attention off them,” said James. The amount of despair would definitely pull it from the four. “We should be able to meet up with them there.” With any luck, anyway, but things were always simpler in theory than in practice. “Yang, can you walk?”

Yang nodded, the colour already coming back to her. “Yeah,” she said. “Yeah, I should be good.” She gave a thumbs’ up to James and smiled at him, wobbling a bit as she stood. “Just uh, no fights.”

James looked out the storefront they’d ran in to and grimaced, listening for the sounds of howling Beowolves and shrieking Nevermore that seemed to come through even with the snow.

“We’ll keep you safe,” said James. He took point, keeping his gun out, and nodded to the three. “Glynda, at the back, we’ll need you to keep an eye out for monsters.” Glynda nodded. “Ruby, help your sister.”

“Sure thing,” said Ruby. She patted the folded scythe on her back and smiled at Yang, who smiled back.

“Let’s get going,” said James. “I’m not spending another night in this place.” The last words were said mostly to himself, but the three all murmured agreement as they headed out of the store and back into the growing storm.

In the distance, thunder boomed across the sky, lighting up the grey, snow blurred kingdom and the dark clouds overhead. James kept moving, leading his ever-shrinking group toward their final goal and, with any luck, back toward their lost companions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love!


	39. Hunted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only a few chapters left now. Things are getting exciting. I really like this arc, actually, even if it wasn't originally supposed to exist.
> 
> This is still @Lydia_Rogue's fault, fyi.

Qrow forced himself not to look back as he, Taiyang, Penny, and Weiss, made their way toward the city centre. If he looked back, he knew what he’d see, it was the same thing he saw moving forward – abandoned buildings, debris, and snow. An absolute fuckton of snow. The wind picked up and so did the snow, with thunder booming across the kingdom and lightning streaking the clouds before stabbing down into Mantle.

Qrow wasn’t sure what was worse, the fact that they were being stalked – he’d picked up the Grimm about fifteen minutes ago, though he had no clue what the hell it could be – or the fact that, whether they liked it or not, they were headed toward where the lightning kept striking.

“How far out do you think it is?” asked Taiyang as they climbed over a broken wall inside buildings. It was easier to move inside, and faster besides, with the buildings mostly hollowed out from age or from war. If nothing else, it meant they were going faster than the Grimm that stalked them, which was trapped outside in the snow and wind.

“Five, ten minutes tops,” said Qrow, casting a glance over his shoulder. He shifted so that Weiss and Penny were walking between them, resting a hand on Penny’s shoulder and squeezing lightly. She smiled at him, but it was trembling and unsure.

Qrow could relate.

Out there, somewhere, were James, Glynda, and his nieces. Hopefully they, like the four of them, had ended up together in the hell that was their current situation.

“What do you think? Goliath?” asked Taiyang. Qrow cocked his head and swallowed hard, trying to focus on the Grimm behind them. One of the strange, albeit very useful, parts of being able to transform was he had a weird connection with animals – namely, Grimm. It let him sense them at about fifty feet, but that was about as useful as it got.

Sometimes he thought it made it easier for them to sense him as well. But he couldn’t be certain. Ozpin probably knew. But fuck Ozpin. He didn’t need to deal with that damn headmaster right now.

“No,” said Qrow. “Too fast.” He frowned and cocked his head as they climbed through a window. The cold didn’t change from inside to outside, not with all the broken windows and crumbled walls. But the snow blew harder outside, and it bit at Qrow’s face more. He wished he had a scarf. Wished he had something to cut the cold across his skin.

“Then what is it?” asked Taiyang.

Qrow swallowed hard and glanced down to Weiss and Penny, who looked up at him, then at Taiyang. He hesitated, then sighed quietly.

“I don’t know,” admitted Qrow, the words swept half-away by the wind. Weiss made a noise that might have been a whimper, but it, too, was washed away by the wind.

He hated not knowing. He hated not being able to protect them. He was a grown ass huntsman, he should have known what was following them. Gods knew he’d spent enough time fucking around Remnant to know every creature there was. But he didn’t. This one was a mystery to him, and now, he was stuck, waiting, for the monster to come at them so that Qrow could see it properly.

Until then, all they could hear were the screams, and all they could see were the occasionally falling roofs of buildings the monster marched through on its relentless pursuit toward its prey – the four of them.

Most Grimm weren’t this relentless. In this kind of weather, in this kind of habitat, that thing should have given up and gone in another direction. But this wasn’t a normal place, and these weren’t normal Grimm. The Goliaths had proven that when they’d literally walked through the city, not ten feet from them. And James had said it, and Qrow knew it.

Grimm in Mantle weren’t normal. So why the hell should this thing follow normal Grimm rules?

Qrow grit his teeth and pulled up the collar of his jacket, trying to hide his face from the snow and biting wind as they kept moving. He had no idea what the hell to do. All he knew was that the Grimm was gaining on them, they couldn’t keep this pace forever, and the further they moved, the further they got from James and the others, and the closer they got to the White Fang and being sandwiched between two kinds of monsters.

At least Qrow could somewhat predict the White Fang and Adam Taurus.

“Do you think the others are still heading for the White Fang?” asked Weiss, her voice trembling with the cold. Even Weiss, an Atlas native, had a hard time with the cold here in Mantle. It was an otherworldly cold, something that dug so deeply that it couldn’t be ignored, couldn’t be stopped. It was another part of Mantle’s curse.

Graveyards in Remnant were always cold, no matter the time of year. That was why they’d buried Summer outside of one, on a hill. She’d always hated the winter. They’d wanted her to be warm, no matter where she was.

“I hope so,” said Penny. “I wouldn’t want Mr. Ironwood or Ruby or…” She pressed her lips together and trailed off. Even she was in winter clothes, though Qrow wondered if she needed them. He’d heard things about Penny. Things he probably shouldn’t have.

Things that explained, partially, why James’ aura was so shit.

He hoped it’d be okay, in this weather.

“They will be,” said Taiyang, firmly. “Yang wants Blake back just as much as the rest of us, if not more.”

Weiss cleared her throat.

“Maybe equal to you and no one else,” conceded Taiyang. Weiss gave a firm nod and Qrow and Taiyang exchanged a look. They were both thinking the same thing in regards to Yang, he knew: like father, like daughter.

Qrow couldn’t be more proud.

“The point is that they’ll head for them,” said Qrow. “And we’ll meet up with ‘em then, maybe turn this damn monster on the White Fang.” As if on cue, a great scream came from behind them. It spiralled up and up into the air, blasting at Qrow’s eardrums until he clapped his hands over his ears. The others did the same.

After a moment, the screaming stopped.

On his back, his sword, folded, was a heavy weight – part comfort, part reminder. As a hunter, he should have turned around and fought this thing. He should have let Taiyang, retired and traumatized – and heh, weren’t they all? – go forward with the girls, meet up with James, and save Blake. But as an uncle, as a brother, and as… well, as whatever he was to James, he needed to stay. To help, to keep everyone safe, to protect.

And that wasn’t mentioning the fact that he was the best at fighting people of all of them. The best at stealing, at gaining information. The best at dropping any pretense of mercy and doing what was necessary to get results.

He and James had that in common. James went large scale; Qrow went small. James broke leaderships and governments; Qrow broke bones and minds. In the end, it was the same thing, just different execution, and all in the name of making the world a better place.

Most days, James did it better than Qrow. But then, Qrow had never been any good at the ‘knight in shining armour’ thing that hunters were supposed to be any good at.

So he kept on with the others, instead of turning back. He kept on, not just for them, not just for Blake, and not just for himself. He kept on because he knew that Adam Taurus needed to be put down, and as much as James had talked about it and pushed Taiyang about it, Qrow didn’t think he could do it. Not really. James Ironwood believed in second chances. In doing what was necessary, but also in trying to do the right thing.

Qrow Branwen believed that the only good terrorist was a dead one. That whatever Taurus could tell them wasn’t worth the pain he’d put people through to let them have that information.

And that wasn’t even counting what he’d do if someone managed to break him out, or if he got free himself.

“Keep moving,” said Qrow, when the others started to lag. “We can’t rest anymore, not with this thing on us.” He held out his hand to Weiss, where she’d stalled. She smiled and took it, allowing Qrow to pull her forward. “If we get it off us, then we rest. But not before then.”

He cast a glance over his shoulder and saw the quaking of a post in the street amidst the snow. The snow fell thick around them, then the post fell as well. It shook the sidewalk. The screams started again. Qrow planted his gloved and snow covered hands over his ears and urged the others forward, who held similar stances.

They needed to keep moving.

So they pushed on, through the streets, through the buildings, through the snow as it felt fat and thick and wet around them. As the cold grew colder and the snow grew deeper, they kept on. Through wind and through darkness, and through the sounds of Grimm as they sensed a leader and easy prey, they kept on.

Beowolves to their right, Ursae to their left, whatever the hell that was behind them, and the White Fang, another hour out in front of them. They were cornered, they were trapped. They kept walking. The Grimm would let them wear themselves down, they were old enough and smart enough for that.

No use attacking prey when it would kill itself for you.

Still, they kept on, and Qrow only hoped that he and the others would reach the White Fang before the monsters descended and everything went to hell.

* * *

 

James, Glynda, Ruby, and Yang arrived at the edge of White Fang territory sometime in the afternoon, but with the cloud coverage and the falling snow, it looked well into the night. They didn’t use flashlights, nor anything else that could draw attention to them. Instead, they simply waited in the dark, watching the flickers of electricity on the security fence around the city centre, and the flashes of light on the walls, in the buildings, and in the watchtower. From time to time, lightning lit the area, and they could see more of the base.

The armoury was up and running, and so were parts of the school. James had spotted Dustpowder weaponry as well amongst the White Fang members that patrolled the border. In the darkness of the rest of the kingdom, the glowing eyes of the Grimm watched alongside the four people. James wondered if the Grimm wouldn’t target them, sooner rather than later, and give away their position.

They hadn’t so far. It appeared that they, like James and his companions, were waiting for something else entirely. It was unsettling, to say the least, to know that the Grimm were making plans despite not being ancient. Something had to be leading them. James had a feeling that that ‘something’ was whatever had brought down the building, and whatever was now probably tracking Qrow and the others.

He cast a glance back over the rest of the city, despite the snow and darkness. There was nothing to see, but still he tried. Somewhere, out there, were the others. From time to time, James heard the shriek of the monster as it tracked them. The White Fang had yet to seem interested in the noise beyond shaking in their boots.

James wondered if it had killed some of them already.

He couldn’t help the stab of guilt that ran through him. Most of them were younger than him, most of them weren’t much older than his students. No one deserved to die like that, especially not at their ages.

It was Adam Taurus who had brainwashed them. Adam Taurus who had turned the White Fang cultist. Adam Taurus who was to blame.

They were all victims. Violent, gun totting victims, but victims all the same.

_Good soldiers follow orders._ It was a mantra that had been taught in Atlas for decades, before he’d taken over his mantle. Don’t think, obey. Do what you’re told. Your leaders know best.

Their inability to think for themselves was a product of their environment. While some broke free, and some escaped, and some became better than their raising, the vast majority didn’t.

It scared James, sometimes, how similar pre-revolution Atlas and the current White Fang were. And it made him wonder, in the back of his mind, if Adam Taurus, young as he was, hadn’t grown up in the outskirts of Atlas, where those mindsets had been common and, most likely, still were.

“So,” said Glynda, turning James’ attention from his thoughts to the three people around him. “What’s the plan?” she asked.

James frowned and cast a glance back to the gates, to the Dustpowder weaponry that the White Fang members marched with, and to the glowing red eyes on his side of the fence, all around the border. He wondered if it would be possible to get the Grimm to attack the White Fang without attacking all of them. But even if it was, that wasn’t what James wanted. These people were victims, even if they were terrorists. And, as much as he wanted Adam Taurus dead, he didn’t want to take down innocent people with him.

“Minimal casualties,” said James, taking a moment to steady himself. “We need to locate Blake and get in and out with the least amount of conflict.” His gaze went to the fence again, and as he focused on it, he became aware of a low hum in his ears.

So, _that_ was why the Grimm hadn’t attacked. Mantle had experimented with noises that caused Grimm discomfort in the past, but long-term human or Faunus exposure to those noises caused permanent psychological distress.

Which, once more, took James’ thoughts to the border patrol. Faunus had sensitive ears. He wondered how much pain they were in.

“So, we’re _not_ allowed to bash their heads in?” asked Yang, cocking an eyebrow at James. She scowled at him from beneath her hat, bits of hair sticking out from it.

“Yang,” said James.

“You said you wanted Adam Taurus dead, I don’t see why the rest of them are so different,” said Yang, flipping her hair out of her face. She twitched, like she wanted to fold her arms but couldn’t, and settled for cupping her shoulder with her left hand.

“They’re victims,” said James.

Yang snorted. “Heard that before, and I didn’t really believe it that time either.” She flipped her hair again, the wind blowing it forward, and scowled at him even further. Her eyes flickered, purple to red, and fire burned against them, making her glow faintly. James was glad Ruby had suggested the hat to shove her hair in. She would have been a beacon, otherwise.

“Yang,” said James.

“She has a point,” said Glynda. “I’m not one for unnecessary carnage, James, but even I have to agree here. Why show them mercy when we know they will not spare us the same kindness?”

James took a breath and remembered that even if Glynda was, or had once been, Atlesian, she wasn’t as well versed in their history as he was. She had grown up in high society, and he, in the lower portions of Atlas where the world had been much different.

“They’re soldiers, Glynda, never taught any better than to obey and to shoot. To kill them here would be to rob them of the chance to be something greater than the sum of their history and the sum of their brainwashing. They can be better than they are,” said James. He cast a glance back over the fenced-in area and saw, distantly, White Fang members crouched together. They were probably playing cards or dice, by the looks of things. “We should give them a chance to find out what they can be.”

Glynda frowned. “Why?” she asked. “Why believe they can be better than what they are now?”

“Because someone once believed in me,” said James. “And if not for that, I never would have become better than what I knew.” Another story for another day, when he wasn’t tired and cold and someone’s world wasn’t at stake. “They deserve that chance too.”

Glynda sighed and stepped back, obviously relenting.

Yang continued to glower at him.

“If I had two hands, I could take you,” said Yang.

“Oh, if you’re anything like your father, I have no doubt in my mind,” said James. He cast a look at the fenced-in area and frowned, trying to find an opening. Surely, there had to be something, somewhere in the fence line, to cover them.

A piercing scream split the night and they all looked up, White Fang members included. A flash of feathers and Qrow was standing next to James. Moments later, Taiyang, Penny, and Weiss scrambled into their hiding spot.

“Qrow,” said James, eyes wide. Another scream – this one human – split the air. “What the hell is going on?”

“That thing tracking us? Yeah, White Fang shot at it, now it’s pissed,” said Qrow. He scrubbed his fingers back through his hair, his hat gone, and his looked to James. His red eyes flashed in the night. “We need to _move_ , Jim. We’re gonna lose the White Fang and all of Mantle to this thing if we don’t.”

James nodded. “Let’s move,” he said. “We’ll use the Grimm for cover.”

But before they could step forward, the howls of the Beowolves, the roars of the Ursae, and the screams of the monstrous Grimm split the air. The fence screamed itself apart on one side, not far from James, and the Grimm began to pour into the White Fang encampment.

And above it all, the Grimm alarms in the armoury began to whine, cutting through the noise until everything bled together into cacophonous chaos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love!


	40. Aura Breaker

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let it be known that the author regrets nothing.

The screams of the Grimm mixed with the screams of the sirens and the screams of the people until Qrow couldn’t tell which was which and his head pounded so loudly he thought it might split in two. He clapped his hands over his ears and looked over to where the shadowy figures of the Grimm swarmed into the encampment, their only visible feature their red, red eyes.

Qrow wished he had his crow vision at the moment, so he could see farther into the encampment than he already could. Hell, he wished he was a Faunus, so he had the night vision to see into the encampment. But no, he was just human, cursed to high hell and back, but human.

“What do we do?” asked Ruby, her silver eyes wide and shimmering. Qrow cast a glance at James, who looked back at him. In that moment, Qrow knew James was thinking the exact same thing he was: they were completely and utterly fucked, and neither one of them had any idea what the hell to do.

Glynda’s purple barrier exploded across their heads, cracking as a Nevermore dove onto it. Qrow jumped, eyes going wide. In the noise, he hadn’t even heard it coming. He swallowed hard, heart thundering in his chest. That could have ended really, really badly, and he hadn’t even noticed.

What the hell kind of good could he do in a fight, like this?

“I can cover us, but we need to move,” said Glynda, holding up her crop. Her fingers twitched and the barrier lifted upward, exploding into shards that pierced the Nevermore and rained down upon the other Grimm that were straying too close. “James!”

“Taiyang, take point. I’ll follow. Glynda, on the outside. I want you to keep those barriers going as long as you can,” said James. He cast a look at the White Fang encampment and Qrow did the same. “It doesn’t matter whether they know we’re here or not now, they’re distracted. So, let’s make the push for the armoury – if Taurus has sent up anywhere, it’ll be there.”

Yang piped up with, “Do you think he’ll be holding Blake there?”

James nodded and Qrow felt himself relax despite the situation. “I do.”

He was still on high alert, of course, but something about the way James spoke and the way he moved made him feel calmer. Like everything could be controlled, or worked out if it couldn’t be. He wasn’t sure where that feeling came from, only that it was there, and he was grateful.

“Right,” said Taiyang, clapping his hands together. “Come on girls, let’s go save Blake.” He struck forward, leaping off the rocks and landing on the ground next to the fence. Reaching out, Taiyang took the fence in both hands and ripped it down, tossing it aside. He gestured for the others to follow and Qrow grinned when he saw James’ expression – shock, awe, maybe a little bit of attraction.

Yeah, Taiyang had that effect on people. Had since the day Qrow had met him, back in the Emerald Forest.

The others followed, splitting off where they needed, and Qrow ran forward, whistling for Ruby to follow him. The two were the fastest in the group, and they cut through the chaos with ease, the world blurring around them as they ran. Qrow let everything but Ruby and his speed fade away, listening for Grimm and spotting for them as best he could. The White Fang were too slow, the Grimm were too distracted, and that left himself and Ruby, racing for the armoury, and for the centre of the city square.

“Down!” shouted Qrow, dodging around a line of Gatling gun fire. Ruby leaned, flashed into rose petals, and landed next to him. They kept going. Through the Grimm and the fog, through the snow and the wind, through the White Fang and the bullets, they kept going.

_Luck, don’t fail me now_. The thought was half prayer, half hope, but Qrow let it linger all the same. He skidded to a stop in front of the armoury and caught Ruby as she nearly flew into it. The two stared up at the building for a long second, then Ruby jumped as an explosion sounded to their right. Qrow spun, already raising an arm to pull Ruby behind him, and saw Taiyang standing near to the fence on their right, glowing. He turned to Qrow and grinned so savagely that Qrow felt worry skitter up his spine.

It’d been a while since they’d let Taiyang cut loose. Qrow didn’t even know if Yang was aware she got half her fighting spirit from her father.

“Climb,” said Qrow. He leaped at the building and latched onto the window sill ten feet above him, then reached down and caught Ruby and hauled her up onto the window sill. The two pulled open the window together and dropped into the armoury inside.

Just like that, the entire world went silent. Not completely, of course, as the sounds from the outside spilled in through the open window, painting the walls and the floor with the knowledge of the destruction and carnage that lingered outside. But the difference was so stark that it might as well have been silent.

Qrow blinked a few times, trying to get his eyes to adjust. When they didn’t, he reached out and held up his scroll, shifting it to ‘glow’ mode. The blue glow sent a circle of light around them, throwing dark shadows against the dark walls, leaving everything cloaked in shadow and grey.

“Uncle Qrow?” asked Ruby. “What are we looking for?”

If he’d been alone, Qrow would have transformed and flown up to the top of the armoury, right above where he suspected Blake was being held. But he had Ruby, and he had no idea how to bring her back down if he didn’t clear the space above them first.

A crow couldn’t exactly carry a teenage girl down ten stories in an active war zone.

The great shriek of the ancient, hunting Grimm sounded through the building. Qrow sucked in a breath and cast a glance over his shoulder to the open window. He had no idea what that thing _was_ , nor how to stop it. Something else to deal with once they knew what was going on with Blake.

Whispering a prayer to the heavens, and another to his luck, Qrow led Ruby forward, deeper into the bowels of the armoury and, hopefully, closer to somewhere they could find Blake.

* * *

 

James ducked as a Beowolf went flying over him, spun, and fired straight into its face. His heart pounded hard in his ears, his aura flickering around him even from the little contact he’d taken. Ten percent, maybe fifteen. Not that he ever went above twenty or twenty-five to begin with.

Behind him, he saw the flash of green as Penny pulled her sword-guns and started attacking the Beowolves and Nevermore with them. Yang was off to the side, dancing around the White Fang and using her legs to fight, allowing Weiss time to place her glyphs to attack the rest.

Glynda had shields everywhere, moving them around the fighters like ballet dancers in a well choreographed show. Glynda, in the centre of the battle, fought and defended in unison, her eyes _glowing_ as she swung shields and glyphs, attacked White Fang with blunt objects, then spun around and hit the Grimm with razor sharp purple crystals that she conjured from her breaking shields.

There had never been a more beautiful, more elegant, or more _brutal_ fighter than Glynda Goodwitch. James was honoured to fight alongside her.

A Beowolf leaped for Yang and James shot it out of the air. Yang turned and grinned at him through the darkness and through the snow, only to get side-swiped by an Ursa. James started forward, only for Creeps to slink up on him and surround him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the telltale glow of Yang’s hair flicker into existence.

She was fine.

These Creeps, on the other hand, were _not._

James fired at them, one after the other. One leaped at him and he grabbed it, breaking its jaw right open and letting it disintegrate in his hands. Another, then another. One caught him across the shoulder, another got him across the stomach. Punch, twist, throw, break. He cursed and reached out, caught one, fired at another, and tried to get his bearings.

Gun was out of ammo. Reload. Don’t rely on aura. Aura was almost gone.

James leaped over one of the Creeps, stomped on its head, and got a well-timed punch at the next one that came at him. Got the two seconds he needed to reload and cock his gun. Fired off three more shots – each struck a Grimm straight in the face. Two Creeps and an Ursa. It dropped with a second shot.

Taiyang, in the distance, fell out of the sky, taking out two Nevermore at the same time. White Fang members swarmed him as he fell and a wave of _fire_ ripped out from where he landed. James grimaced at the screams of the White Fang. He was fairly certain that Taiyang didn’t mean to hurt them as much as he was.

It was easy to lose control when your semblance depended on overwhelming your senses and blocking out everything but your adrenal system. He’d known a few students, and a few Specialists, to have semblances of that nature. Nothing like what Taiyang had, however, as James was realizing as he watched the man turn blows and strikes into power in a way Yang didn’t come _close_ to.

A scream above, mixing with a second scream. One was the Grimm from before. In unison, every Grimm in the White Fang encampment went silent and still. The scream of the Grimm continued and James and Glynda took the opportunity to cut through almost every Grimm remaining in the encampment in seconds. Weiss picked up the rest, leaving them alone.

In the distance, James swore he heard the sound of an Atlesian engine. But he had to be hallucinating. There was no way someone else had come out to this place, especially in an airship, in this kind of weather.

“What do we do about _that?_ ” asked Weiss, throwing out a hand to the monster in the shadows. James spied two pairs of glowing red eyes, one pair larger, one pair smaller, the smaller pair was higher than the larger. James swallowed as the thing stepped into the light at the edge of the encampment.

A great horse with flaring nostrils and glowing eyes. A figure, not quite human, with one long, dangling arm. Its Grimm mask had horns. Arrows and weapons stuck out of its back.

And as it gave another great, terrifying scream, James clapped his hands over his ears and watched as half the people around him – White Fang and his own alike – took a knee.

_The Nuckalvee._

James lost his voice. His breath. His _everything._

Something was wrong.

That _thing_ was from Anima, not from Solitas. How in the hell had it gotten into Anima? It couldn’t cross water.

“James!” Glynda. “How do we stop this thing?”

He had no idea.

“Do you like my pet?” The call came from the atop the armoury. James swung his gaze around, not turning from the Nuckalvee as its screams died off. “I had it sedated and airlifted from Mistral.” _Taurus._ James grit his teeth and clenched his fists at his sides. “Thought it would make a good defense from people like _you._ Took out a lot of good men in Anima, but it was worth it, for this.”

But why wouldn’t it come forward?

James’ gaze went to the electricity that danced along the tops of the fences. The frequency was still up then. There weren’t any gaps big enough for the Nuckalvee to pick its way through. It would have to crash through the fence to do it. That gave them time, at least until the White Fang pulled down the fence to let it in.

“Did you wonder why it picked your _husband_ to chase?” asked Taurus. “It didn’t. It picked the human ball of misery he calls a _brother_.”

James’ gaze swung toward Tai. The smug tone of Taurus’ voice had hairs raising on the back of James’ neck. What he said couldn’t be true, but then, he knew Tai had been through hell. He knew Tai had struggled with a lot in mental health. He knew that.

And so did Taurus.

And so did the Grimm. In their own way.

The Nuckalvee was tracking Tai.

And, by the look of horror and guilt that swept across Taiyang’s face, the way his entire body went limp, and the fact that the glow faded from his body and his eyes, he had just realized that too.

The Nuckalvee screamed again. Taiyang ran for it.

“Tai, no!” shouted James. James ran for Tai, but White Fang members were swarming now, and Adam Taurus leapt down from the building, putting himself between James and Taiyang. James cursed and stepped back, looking around as the White Fang members finally got their bearings and came after them all.

Taurus’ hand went to the pommel of his sword and James frowned. Taurus wasn’t glowing, but James didn’t put it past him to have a trick up his sleeve. It seemed like something Taurus would do, after all. He always had something going on. It was part of why it was so difficult to pin him for anything.

James shifted his stance, watching Taurus’, and trying not to think too hard about Taiyang. He raised his gun, ready to attack. Taurus grinned at him and launched at James. James ducked, spun around, shot.

Screams from the Nuckalvee. Taurus dodged. Taiyang went flying in James’ peripheral vision and slammed into the wall of the armoury.

“Tai!” shouted James. He almost missed Taurus coming at him and cursed, bringing up his gun to catch the blade. He launched himself forward and slugged, catching Taurus across the face. Taurus growled, his mask cracking, and came at James.

The two moved in a furious dance around one another, darting between other people in the fight. Sword hit gun, bullets fired around them, Grimm, human, and faunus alike fought to stay alive. The Nuckalvee couldn’t get through, but it was trying. God, it was trying.

And as they fought, Taurus began to glow, and James knew he was running out of time.

* * *

 

Qrow and Ruby hit the top floor of the armoury and skid to a stop, freezing when they saw the four White Fang members guarding what looked to be a prison cell.

“Freeze!” shouted one of them.

“Ruby?” asked Qrow.

Her only response was to smile, lean forward, and sprint at the White Fang members. All four of them hit the wall in moments, slumped, and slid to the ground. Ruby straightened up and saluted Qrow, looking cheeky.

“You really do take after me,” said Qrow.

Ruby shrugged and rocked back on her heels. One of the men groaned and Ruby gave him a look before turning back to Qrow. “Of course. You did train me, after all!” she said, beaming.

Qrow smiled back and clapped his hands together, looking at the cell they were guarding. “Hey, kid, you in there?”

There was nothing. Then, golden eyes emerging first, came Blake. Her bow was gone, her ears folded back entirely, and she had a cut on her cheek.

No aura then.

“Qrow? Ruby?” said Blake. Her voice was hoarse, like she hadn’t been drinking enough lately, and Qrow wished he was surprised by that. But he wasn’t. Fuck Adam Taurus. Fuck everything he’d done to this girl and to the city he’d stolen her from.

“All right, let’s get you out of here,” said Qrow. He reached out for the bars, only barely hearing Blake’s warning, and grasped one. Lightning shot up his arm and Qrow went flying, pain shooting up his arm. He hit the wall, not far from the unconscious guards, and groaned. Electricity tingled up his arm and left him cursing under his breath. Of _course_ the damn thing was electrocuted. That was just his luck.

_Shit._ His luck. Qrow took a breath as he pushed himself upright and tried to shake off the prickle that was growing up his spine. It wouldn’t budge. He knew what it meant. All the good luck they’d had – finding the White Fang, getting in here in one piece, Ruby knocking out those men – was about to run out.

When it did, there’d be a damn big boom to go with it.

Qrow shook himself and took a breath, crossing the room to Blake again. She stared out from behind the bars and Ruby stared out from in front of them. Neither one of them seemed to know what to do, and neither did Qrow.

“Don’t suppose you know who has the key?” asked Qrow, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Probably Adam,” muttered Blake. She folded her arms and scowled, ears twitching. Qrow had to admit that her ears were a much handier indicator of emotion than her usual fare. He’d never figured out how to read her. Though that was probably because they hadn’t been around each other much, bar his classes.

“Well, I can’t get to them right now then,” said Qrow. He stepped back from the cell and eyed the window to the side of the room. He wondered if he could swoop down and grab them – he’d heard Taurus monologuing earlier, between the screams of what Qrow now knew to be the Nuckalvee. And how the fuck had Taurus even gotten that thing into Mantle?

Probably killed a hell of a lot of his own men to do it. Probably didn’t even care.

“What about the other thing?” asked Ruby. “Could you, you know, switch and pick the lock?” she asked. Qrow blinked a few times. That probably wouldn’t work, but he knew what would. It’d _hurt_ , but it’d work.

“Switch?” echoed Blake, tilting her head.

Qrow sighed. “This is gonna _suck_ ,” he muttered. He twisted, leapt, and fell as a crow, flapping over to the lock. He rested on it, careful to avoid the bars, and tried not to look at Blake. She seemed freaked out enough as it was.

Qrow balanced on the lock, slipped his wing tip into the lock, and shifted _back._

Pain shot up his right arm, aura flashing around him as it fought to hold his arm together. The lock shattered and hit the ground. Qrow fell with it, full sized, with next to no aura left. He cursed and rubbed his hand, where it was red and irritated.

The door swung open and Blake stumbled out. Ruby squealed and wrapped her arms around Blake’s shoulders, hugging her tightly. Qrow smiled at the pair, then gasped as pain shot through his abdomen. He hadn’t been shot so what—

_James._

Qrow scrambled to his feet and leaped for the window, planting his hands on the sill and staring out. He saw the flash of blue in the snow and the fog as James’ aura died.

_No._

Qrow leaped from the window, twisted to crow, and then twisted back just as he hit the ground. He sprinted for James, fear spiralling through his body and leaving his mind blank but for the chant of _no, no, no_ that refused to let go.

“James!” shouted Qrow, voice cracking. The Nuckalvee screamed and Qrow hit his knees, skidding in the snow as he clapped his hands over his ears. In the snow, he saw James, sliding, still trying to fight. Saw Taurus.

Taurus was glowing.

_No._

Qrow shoved himself back to his feet and grabbed his sword. He ran for James, hard and fast, determined to get between them.

“James!” he shouted again. Saw the flicker of recognition on James’ face. Then Taurus was drawing his sword, the glow ignited the snow, and Qrow _screamed_ as pain ripped through his side.

_Too late._

Qrow’s aura flashed and died. He hit the snow on his knees, sword skidding off into the darkness. Taurus turned, glow fading from his blade. And, not ten feet from Qrow’s gasping, aching body, James hit the snow. Unconscious.

His right arm completely severed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love!


	41. Lights Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle of Mantle ends, one way or another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is the final chapter of the Mantle arc. Only one chapter to go after this one. It's been a long ride folks, but next Sunday, it all ends.
> 
> I hope you're excited as I am.

Qrow’s heartbeat thundered in his ears. The wind howled around him. He stared at James’ fallen form, missing an arm – thank god the metal one – and couldn’t process it. Couldn’t process that James had fallen. That James’ falling had killed his own aura. That he was sitting there, defenseless, his sword off in the darkness, while Adam Taurus stood before him.

Qrow’s chin lifted up, eyes still blank, as Taurus tilted his chin with his sword. He grinned at Qrow, the glow gone. But it didn’t matter.

His aura was gone.

James had fallen.

His sword was off somewhere else.

What the hell was he supposed to do?

Nothing felt real. Nothing felt solid. Everything slipped through his fingertips, threatening to leave him drowning if he didn’t stop his fall. But he didn’t know how.

James had fallen. Qrow’s aura had broken with his fall. He’d felt James’ crash and break.

How?

What did it mean?

“Any last words?” asked Taurus.

Qrow blinked, slow and unsure. What did Taurus mean by that?

A Beowolf crashed into Taurus and sent him flying. It took Qrow far longer than it should have to realize the Beowolf was _white._

A rough hand grabbed his bicep and hauled him to his feet. The other shoved his sword into his arms.

“That’s one you owe me,” snapped a voice that Qrow thought he’d never be grateful to hear.

_Winter._

“Maybe I can return the favour,” said Qrow, drily. He took the few steps forward to hold his sword properly and hauled it up, grinning at Winter. The fog slipped free, Winter’s voice and motions letting him _breathe_ again. “How the hell did you get here?”

Winter jerked a thumb over her shoulder and Qrow followed her gaze to a figure he had never expected to see in Mantle.

_Ozpin._

He was currently helping Taiyang to his feet, a slight pulse in the air around him that alerted Qrow to their aura sharing. He hadn’t realized Tai had been hurt that bad. He should have noticed. They were brothers. Partners.

Something.

“What the hell are you doing here?” asked Qrow. But before Winter could respond, Taurus threw off the Beowolf, which exploded, and lightning ripped through the sky.

A split second before it happened, Qrow felt the pull in his stomach, the only thing that whispered to him of his semblance.

_No._

Lightning struck the fence not ten feet from the Nuckalvee. The entire length of the fence ignited, glowing so brightly that Qrow couldn’t see anything else.

And the low hum that kept back the Grimm vanished so suddenly Qrow wondered if he’d imagined it.

With growing horror, Qrow watched as the fence fell to the Nuckalvee’s power, and it charged into the White Fang’s temporary base and straight at Ozpin and Taiyang.

“Tai!” shouted Qrow, already spinning and moving, praying to every god he knew that he’d be fast enough.

One of the Nuckalvee’s arms swung out, wiping at lightspeed toward Tai. There was a flash, a scream, and a flare of green. Qrow stared. Ozpin stood in front of Tai, eyes glowing faintly green, and his cane held over his head, the Nuckalvee’s arm wrapped around it.

“Get Taurus!” shouted Ozpin. Qrow stared. “Now, Qrow!”

Qrow nodded, looked to Winter, who nodded in return. The two bolted after where Taurus had run off, back toward the armoury, where Blake and Ruby still were. Fear spiralled through him, half burnt away by adrenaline. James was still down. James was still vulnerable.

“What about James?” called Qrow as they ran for the armoury.

“Look,” said Winter, jerking her head behind her. Qrow turned and saw Glynda haul James over her shoulders with his remaining arm, then walk him toward another building, glyphs flaring around her to fight back Grimm and White Fang alike.

She didn’t falter.

Qrow swallowed hard. “That’s kind of hot,” he said, quietly.

“And terrifying,” said Winter. Qrow looked to Winter, raising his eyebrows. Her mouth twitched up on one side. Qrow returned the gesture. They kept running.

They hit the armoury and kicked down the door. The White Fang members took one look at them, then at each other, then bolted. Qrow didn’t care. He just wanted to get to the girls before Taurus did. He wanted to transform, but his aura was gone, and without it, shifting could fuck him up severely.

God, he still wasn’t over his aura shattering with James’. That just didn’t make _sense_ , not unless…

But no. That wasn’t possible. It wasn’t.

They hadn’t bonded that much. They didn’t care about each other that much. James didn’t love him. Not the same way Qrow did.

Or did he?

The two hit the top of the stairs and kicked open the door just as Taurus came over the ledge of the window. The White Fang members were on their feet again, coming at Blake and Ruby, who were backed into corner.

Neither one of them had a weapon meant for that close of a range.

“You take the thugs, I’ve got Taurus,” said Qrow. Winter nodded, summon glyphs appearing around her, and Qrow turned and ran for Taurus.

He grinned at Qrow, drew his sword as Qrow pulled his, and the two met in the middle. Metal met metal and the sounds of their clashing mixed with the sounds of the summoned Grimm attacking the White Fang.

They spun around each other, snarling and striking. Qrow moved forward, Taurus moved back. One blow exchanged for another. Faster and faster until the world blurred away and all Qrow could see was Taurus. His mask. His sword. His movements. The rest of the world fell away. The sounds of the Nuckalvee outside and the fight next to him were distant.

Strike, block, retreat, attack. Around and around. Faster and faster. Don’t give in. Don’t step back. Don’t get hit.

He couldn’t take a hit.

Taurus swept at his legs and Qrow leaped back. Tripped over a fallen White Fang member. One hand hit the ground. Brought up his sword just in time to catch Taurus’ next blow. Shoved back on his hand and booted Taurus in the chest. He went flying, hit the wall. Slumped. Qrow shoved himself to his feet and turned to Winter and the others.

The White Fang members dropped around Winter. The glyphs faded and so did the Grimm. She helped Blake and Ruby to their feet, concern painting her features.

“Are you two—”

A gunshot. Ruby shrieked and hit the wall. Blood bloomed from her side.

“No!” shouted Qrow. He spun, already lifting his sword, but Taurus launched himself, sword and mask glowing.

Pain ripped through Qrow’s right side and his vision whited out. He hit his knees, then his hands, sword skittering away. Taurus snarled, Blake screamed. Glyphs appeared, but Taurus threw something and they disappeared just as fast.

“Ruby, oh god, Ruby,” Blake was saying. “Adam, why are you doing this?”

“You left me,” said Taurus, snarling. He drew himself up to his full height and Qrow watched from his spot on the ground.

His sword wasn’t glowing anymore.

Blood seeped through the wound on Qrow’s right side. He pressed his hand to it, vision spotting.

No aura. No semblance. No weapon.

“This is your fault, my love. If you hadn’t left, I never would have had to go to such lengths,” said Taurus. He spread his hands, sword still in his right, and in that moment, Qrow saw an opportunity. One chance. One shot.

He launched himself at Taurus.

He caught Taurus around the waist and slammed his fist into the damned mask, splitting it clean down the centre. Taurus snarled and lifted his sword arm, but Qrow pinned it and _twisted_. Taurus dropped the sword. His aura – the colour of blood – flared around him, then died.

Then, Taurus got his legs under Qrow. Booted Qrow. Qrow went flying and hit the wall next to Ruby and Blake. He groaned, vision spotting. Pain exploded through his back and head but he barely felt it.

Taurus stalked toward Qrow and slammed him into the wall again, gripping him by the throat. Qrow gasped, air sweeping out of his lungs. He clawed at Taurus’ hands. Tried to get air. Found he couldn’t. His side bled, his brain screamed. His vision spotted. His chest grew tighter and tighter.

“Did you really _think_ you could stop me?” hissed Taurus. Qrow blinked hard, trying to clear his vision of the black spots that encroached along the edges. His chest burned and begged for air. “I am Adam Taurus, the next in line to lead the White Fang. No one can stop me. I have _legions_. I have—” Taurus cut himself off with a sharp gasp. His eyes, bloodshot and red, widened, pupils dilating. He looked down and so did Qrow.

Sticking out from between Taurus’ ribs, right below his heart, was the bloody edge of his own sword.

“Do you _ever_ stop talking?” asked Winter, sounding exhausted. She stood behind Taurus, hair loose and hanging around her like some kind of oversized halo.

Taurus’ grip slackened and he dropped Qrow. Qrow slid down and got his feet under him, barely holding himself against the wall.

Taurus stumbled away from him, hands grabbing at the blade that stuck out of his chest. Blood seeped into his clothing and he stared, growing paler by the second. He coughed, blood hit the floor. Qrow watched, vision focusing, as Taurus stumbled backward, wobbled at the top of the stairs, and fell backward, impaling himself further on his own sword before his body fell sideways off the stairs, and disappeared into the depths of the armoury.

Far below, there was a ‘thump’ as his body hit the ground.

“Holy shit,” breathed Blake.

Yeah, that was about the only response Qrow had for that too. He looked to Blake, who had her hands pressed to the wound in Ruby’s side. Ruby was still conscious, her silver eyes wide and trembling, and she looked alert too. Aura piercing rounds. Enough to hurt, but she’d survive the trip home, easily.

Qrow turned his attention toward Winter, who stared down the stairs, looking a tad green. She swallowed hard and licked her lips, swinging her focus back toward Qrow.

“You okay?” he asked, voice steady as he pushed himself fully upright against the wall.

“I’m a Specialist, if you think that’s the first person I’ve killed—” Her voice cracked and she trailed off, head bowing forward and chest heaving. _“Fuck_ ,” she hissed, shoving back her bangs with her bloody fingers. It streaked her hair pink and Qrow cracked a smile at her.

He crossed the space between them, wobbling, and resting a hand on her shoulder. It was the right one, not the one he held to his wound, so it didn’t stain her uniform. Not that it mattered. It was already stained with Taurus’ blood, ruffled from their fighting, and torn from everything.

No longer pristine Atlas. No longer perfect military protégé.

“You know, I think I like you better a little roughed up,” said Qrow, drily.

Winter cracked a shaky smile at him, then rested her hand atop his. “That makes two of us,” she said. Her bangs fell forward again, hanging over her exhausted eyes.

Outside, there was a flare of fire, then green, then the Nuckalvee screamed again.

Qrow eyed his sword, damaged as it was, and frowned. There was no way it could cut anything right now.

“Hey, kid?” asked Qrow, looking to Ruby. She looked up. “Your scythe still in one piece?” he asked, a plan already forming behind his eyes.

Ruby broke into a wide smile, seemingly catching on, then nodded. “Yup,” said Ruby. She shifted, nudging Blake away, and pulled her scythe from her back, tossing its folded form to Qrow. Qrow grinned at her. It was lighter than his own, but it was sharper than all hell, and with the momentum he’d build up on the fall, he could do this.

“Are you crazy?” asked Winter, as Qrow stalked toward the window. The Nuckalvee screamed again. Qrow looked outside. It was down an arm, but that didn’t change that it was still a hell of a combatant, and even Ozpin didn’t seem to be able to get close to it.

He was definitely protecting everyone from it though, if the green shields that flared around everyone were any indication.

“I can kill it,” said Qrow.

“You’ll kill yourself,” protested Winter. “Do you have any idea what this fall will do to you? You have no aura. When you hit the ground…”

“So catch me, then,” said Qrow. He slid his fingers through his hair and dragged his bangs back, then grinned at Winter. “You do still have your sister’s tricks too, right?”

Winter nodded, swallowing visibly. “You’ll have to trust me,” she said. Her eyes betrayed her fear, the only indicator.

Qrow cast a glance toward the stairs and the blood that decorated them. “After all this?” said. He leaned backward against the window ledge. “Consider yourself trusted.” He winked, leaned back, and said, “Now, catch me.”

And he let himself fall.

Qrow fell straight down, unfolding the scythe as he went. It still changed as smooth as the first time he and Ruby had worked on it together.

The Nuckalvee screamed. Ozpin spotted him, Qrow knew by the tilt of his head. Then, Ozpin launched himself forward, struck the Nuckalvee to grab its attention. It stretched out its head and Qrow grinned. He spun, faster than Ruby had ever managed, and _struck_.

The scythe cut clean through its neck. Severed the head and sent it spinning into the air. Black smoke billowed up and enveloped the night sky.

And Qrow fell, five feet, ten, then fifteen.

Caught a glyph that slowed his descent and set him down gently on the snow-covered ground. Qrow looked up and caught Winter’s attention through the smoke. He nodded to her and she nodded back, then she disappeared from the window.

Qrow stumbled, hissing, one hand going to his side. Shit. Right. _That._

“Qrow.” Taiyang, rushing to his side. His aura flickered around him, flaring, and Qrow slumped against Tai as he felt the pull of the other man’s aura. God, he’d forgotten how _good_ that felt. “Here, let me…” He trailed off, laying a hand on Qrow’s cheek, and Qrow closed his eyes.

Some of his aura trickled back into him, enough that he could hold himself upright, at least for a few minutes.

“Where’s James?” asked Qrow.

“Nice to see you too,” said Taiyang, drily. “Glynda took him to safety. She called an airship, should be here soon.”

Qrow nodded and narrowed his eyes as Ozpin approached. “What the hell are you doing here?” he asked the headmaster.

Ozpin sighed, rolling his cane over in his hands. The way he was moving, with the cane held between both of his hands, Qrow had to wonder just how much Ozpin actually needed it.

“I was told that actions speak louder than words, and that if I wanted to make things up to the two of you, I should find an _action_ to convey my apology, rather than flowery language,” said Ozpin. He raised an eyebrow, eyes twinkling. “Though I am afraid I cannot simply shut that part of myself off.” He faltered, looking away from Qrow. “I am quite sorry, I assure you. I plan to tell James that as well, when he wakes up.”

Qrow nodded and held out his hand to Ozpin. “Probably a good idea.” Ozpin studied the hand – bloody as it was – and Qrow nodded. Ozpin took it and they clasped hands. “Just remember us little people when you start playing puppet master, Oz. We don’t much like being treated as puppets.”

“I’ll remember that,” said Ozpin. The fire that burned behind his eyes made Qrow believe him. “I swear it.”

“And if you don’t,” said Glynda, striding up. Penny and Yang walked behind her, the two of them carrying a makeshift stretcher that had James on it. There was a purple glyph on the handle that Yang couldn’t hold. “I’ll be sure to _remind_ you.”

James’ metal arm laid next to him, still in its sleeve. Qrow swallowed hard. How much had it hurt, to knock him out like that? Gods, he hoped James would be all right.

He needed James to be all right.

Overhead, the roar of the airship sounded, and Qrow looked up to see an Atlas airship. It landed in the space near them, and Qrow noticed that the Grimm and White Fang had scattered.

With the Nuckalvee and Taurus both dead, it seemed the monsters had decided to retreat back into their hideouts and shadows.

“We need medical attention!” called Glynda to the Atlesian soldiers getting off the ship. They jogged over to the stretcher and took it from Penny and Yang, taking James to the airship. Ozpin nodded to the ship.

“You should all take that one, I’ll head back to Vale,” said Ozpin. He folded his hands atop his cane and leaned it in the snow. “I’m sure you have a lot to help each other with.”

One of the soldiers led Ruby and Yang toward the ship, speaking softly. Taiyang went with them, so did Winter, after a moment’s hesitation. Both of them caught Qrow’s gaze and he nodded to them, to say he’d be there shortly.

Qrow had a feeling he needed to talk to Winter.

Had a feeling that murdering Taurus wasn’t as clean cut as they both wanted it to be.

He turned his attention to Ozpin, narrowing his eyes, and rested his hand on his right side. The bleeding was slowing, but the pain came now that the adrenaline had worn off. Ruby’s scythe was heavy on his back, tugging at his brackets – meant for a sword form, not a folded gun form – and he still had to retrieve his own sword.

Except, it seemed, he didn’t, as it was sticking in the ground where Winter had been standing. It seemed she had grabbed it for him.

“Oz,” said Qrow. “We need to talk.”

“I know,” said Ozpin. “But I think you’d rather be with James and your nieces right now, wouldn’t you?” he asked. Qrow cast a glance to airship, where James, Ruby, Yang, Tai, and Winter awaited transport, alongside everyone else who’d come with them.

“Yeah, I would,” he said. He gave a wave to Ozpin and headed toward the ship. Then, hesitated when he saw Glynda and Penny still standing there. “Penny? Glynda?”

“I’m coming,” said Penny. She cast a glance over her shoulder. “Just turning everything off.” Her eyes glowed faintly, then shifted back to normal. Qrow smiled and slung his arm around her shoulders as she walked up to him.

“Glynda?”

“I’m going with Ozpin,” said Glynda. “We have a stop to make, at the SDC, before we can go back to Vale.” She smiled, sly, at Ozpin, and Ozpin smiled back, looking equally pleased.

“Oh, I’m going to enjoy this,” said Ozpin. He waved at Qrow, and so did Glynda, and Qrow waved back with his free arm.

Then, Penny and Qrow boarded the airship and sat down with the others. Qrow took James’ remaining hand, pressed a kiss to his cold knuckles, and slipped an arm around Yang.

Together, all of them rode back to Vale. Silent, exhausted, and injured.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love!


	42. In the Public Eye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter of _In the Public Eye_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it folks, the final chapter of _In the Public Eye_ , it's been a long road and a lot of words, and a lot more chapters and twists and turns than I thought would happen, but we've reached the end. I hope you find the next 5,600 words satisfying.
> 
> Thank you.

Qrow passed Winter as he rounded a corner, headed for the infirmary. They both froze when they saw each other, though for Qrow it was more out of surprise than anything else.

“Schnee,” said Qrow, mouth twitching up on one side.

“Branwen,” said Winter, nodding. Her neutral expression fell away to a sort of half smile, the corners of her eyes wrinkling. “Headed to see James?” she asked.

Qrow shook his head. “Not yet, no. I’m checking up on Ruby, she’s being released today.” He shifted his weight, rocking on his heels, and stuffed his hands in the back pockets of his pants. A press release had been issued earlier that day, from Atlas, and Qrow was curious about it. “I, uh, heard you stepped down from the Specialists,” he said.

With a nod, Winter gestured to herself, and Qrow noticed that all the little details that marked her for a Specialist were gone, including her long coat, which had been styled after James’, no doubt. Instead, she wore a much shorter coat and, Qrow noticed, it was a pale shade of grey.

“The Council asked me to,” said Winter. She folded her arms behind herself – parade rest. “They believed that my insubordination and penchant for doing what I thought was, and I quote, ‘the best possible solution that somehow escaped my superiors’, was unsuitable for a Specialist of my calibre.” She flipped her bangs out of her eyes, and Qrow saw the barest hint of her rolling them.

“You were asked to step down or get fired,” translated Qrow. He shifted, folding his arms over his chest and leaning sideways against the wall next to the two of them. Letting out a low whistle, Qrow shook his head and asked, “So, what now? You’re not exactly suited for a lot of work. Going into regular old hunting?” He cocked an eyebrow. Part of him was curious why Winter had shown up in Mantle when she had, but he figured if she was half as loyal as he thought she was, there was no chance she was going to leave James alone in Mantle.

Sooner or later, they’d all broken the rules to go get James. It’d paid off, Taurus was dead, the White Fang was being rounded up and questioned, most of them let off with probation or other deals, and hunters were finally doing a proper sweep of Mantle to clear out all the old Grimm that were clustered there. Mostly so this kind of thing couldn’t happen again.

“No, actually,” said Winter. She brought her arms in front of her, shifting her stance to lean more to one side, and her mouth twitched up, lopsided, at Qrow. “I was thinking of going into espionage.”

Qrow’s eyebrows shot up and he broke into a wide grin. “Well then,” he said, pushing himself off the wall. He stuck out a hand to Winter and she took it. They held fast for but a moment, eyes locked and mutual understanding and respect held aloft between them in that handshake. “If you need any tips...”

“You’ll be my first call,” said Winter. They released hands and Qrow rolled his shoulders, still sore. He still a bandage wrapped around his middle, beneath his shirt, but it’d only been two days since everything had happened.

“What about your father?” asked Qrow. “Heard he got arrested.” No doubt because of Ozpin and Glynda. Those two were a pretty terrifying team when they wanted to be. Jacques hadn’t stood a chance once they’d gone after him and gone to the Council with all the evidence Penny had managed to find for them.

“Indeed,” said Winter. “My mother is going into rehabilitation.” Her expression darkened at those words, something flickering in her eyes that betrayed a lot more than the neutral tone she spoke in. Qrow didn’t press it. He didn’t have that privilege. Probably never would.

Didn’t really want to.

“The Schnee Dust Company will be largely run by its shareholders at the moment, who, thankfully, are much milder than my father,” said Winter. She cleared her throat, hand pressing to her mouth briefly. “My mother will take over when she can, and Weiss remains the heir. My brother…” She shook her head. “Well, he was never suited for ruling.”

“Taking it hard?” guessed Qrow.

Winter nodded, looking frustrated. “He believes the General to be the villain of this story,” she said, drily. “But that doesn’t surprise me.”

Qrow rested a hand on her shoulder. “He’ll come around,” said Qrow. He stepped back from Winter and glanced down the hall. “I should get going, I don’t want to miss Ruby.”

Winter nodded. “And I wanted to speak with the General,” she said. She hesitated a moment, then said, “You’re not bad, for a half-baked spy.”

“And you’re all right, for an uptight Specialist,” replied Qrow.

Winter narrowed her eyes. “ _Ex_ -Specialist,” she corrected.

Qrow grinned. “Yeah.” He chuckled. “Ex-Specialist.” He winked, Winter rolled her eyes, and the two parted ways, both of them heading to different sections in the infirmary.

Ruby’s room wasn’t far from where Qrow had met Winter, and he knocked softly on the door frame before coming into the room. Ruby was sitting up in bed, Yang on one side of her and Taiyang on the other. They’d put her in one of the hospital dressing gowns – this one had little dogs on it. Qrow figured that Zwei would probably be in the room if it wasn’t unsanitary.

“Hey, kiddo, how’re you doing?” asked Qrow, shoving his hands in his pockets.

Ruby beamed at him. “I’m great! And famous, apparently,” she said, cocking her head to one side. Her words went from enthusiastic to confused in those two sentences, and Qrow chuckled.

“Yeah?” he asked.

Yang nodded and leaned back in her chair, rocking it back on its heels. She stretched her good arm above her head, her stump lifting as far as it could.

“Yeah. The whole school heard about what we did and everyone’s been sending Ruby ‘get well soon’ presents. They’re _everywhere_ in our dorm,” said Yang. She rolled her eyes. “I didn’t get half as many when _I_ lost my _arm_.” She gave Ruby a flat look and Ruby winced.

“We can share!” protested Ruby.

“Yang,” said Taiyang, a low warning in his voice.

Yang rolled her eyes again and scoffed. She leaned forward and ruffled Ruby’s hair, prompting a squawk from Ruby. “I’m just teasing. Don’t even worry about it,” said Yang, her tone and expression fond.

“How are you holding up?” asked Taiyang, looking to Qrow. He shrugged, unsure how to put everything into words. Knowing Ruby was okay helped with most things, but there was still the small matter of himself and James. There was a lot there to sort out, and he wasn’t sure if talking to James today, or tomorrow, or every day for the next month would sort it out.

“I’ll survive,” said Qrow.

“Have you been to see James yet?” asked Tai. There was a knowing edge to his voice and in his eyes, like he knew precisely what the answer was.

“How’s your girlfriend?” asked Qrow, looking to Yang.

Yang’s eyes twinkled as she answered with, “Which one?”

Qrow blinked. He’d expected Blake, but hadn’t realized that Weiss had actually done something with her obvious interest. Gathering his bearings, he let out a chuckle and reached out to ruffle her hair. Yang rolled her eyes and let him.

“You really are your father’s daughter,” said Qrow.

Yang stuck out her tongue at Qrow.

“I, for one, could not be prouder,” said Taiyang, grinning at Yang. Yang grinned back and Ruby rolled her eyes, folding her arms across her chest.

“As long as you don’t kick me out of my own dorm,” said Ruby.

Yang narrowed her eyes. “How do you even _know_ about that kind of thing?” she asked.

Ruby gave her a flat look. “Gee, Yang, I can’t think of any other reason why Ren and Nora have slept on our floor a bunch since Pyrrha and Jaune started dating.” She raised her eyebrows, mouth twitching on one side. “I may be fifteen, but Uncle Qrow is basically my second dad. I know things.”

“Gods help us all,” muttered Qrow as Taiyang and Yang gave him a sharp look. He raised his hands in defense and chuckled. “Hey, don’t look at me. I just try to be authentic.”

“Mm-hmm,” said Taiyang.

“You should go talk to Mr. Ironwood,” said Ruby. “I’ll be okay and we can get cupcakes later!” She beamed at Qrow and he smiled back, reaching forward one last time to ruffle her hair.

“Sure, kiddo, sounds great.” Qrow headed out of the room and noticed Taiyang following after him. He’d barely gotten out of earshot of the door before Taiyang caught his wrist and turned him back around.

“What?” asked Qrow, voice soft so that no one could overhear them.

Tai studied him closely, frowning, then stepped forward and threw his arms around Qrow’s shoulders. Qrow stumbled back; his eyes went wide. Hesitantly, he wrapped his arms around Taiyang’s mid-section, hugging him back.

“I’m happy for you,” murmured Taiyang against his shirt. “You know that, right?”

Qrow pressed his lips together and pressed his face into the crook of Tai’s neck, sucking in a sharp breath between his teeth. “I do now,” he croaked.

Taiyang slid a hand up to the back of his head, holding Qrow closer. They stood like that for a moment, clinging tight, and Qrow felt nothing but brotherly love for Tai.

It seemed he was well and truly over the guy. Just in time to bare his heart to someone else.

“You and James seem like you’ve got stuff to sort out,” said Taiyang, pulling back to look Qrow in the eye. “But whatever happens, I’m here for you.” He held Qrow by the shoulders and smiled at him. “You’re… you’re family. Even if we had a rocky start, you are. And you’re just as much a father to those girls as I am, most days.”

Qrow cocked his head and gave a lopsided smile. “Think I do better as ‘cool uncle’, honestly.”

“Maybe,” said Tai, voice soft. He released Qrow and lightly punched his shoulder. “Now, go find your husband, yeah?”

Qrow nodded, rubbing his shoulder in mock pain, and waved at Tai as he turned and headed to James’ room.

* * *

 

James rolled his shoulder, flexing his new right fingers one at a time before rolling them all at once. He’d been getting adjusted to the new arm – something much more stream-lined and advanced than his old one – for hours. There was still a lot of work to be done before he had complete control over it, but it seemed to be attached properly, at the least.

From what he’d been told, Glynda had called in his doctor from Atlas to do the prosthetic attachment personally. James would have to thank Glynda for that, eventually. Once he got out of the infirmary or once Glynda came and visited him. Perhaps, this time, their visit would be more pleasant.

Perhaps his next visit with Ozpin would be as well. James had been told Ozpin had helped out a great deal in Mantle, and with Jacques. He’d have to thank the other headmaster for it.

There was a rap at his door and James looked up, smiling when he saw Winter leaning against the door. His expression faltered when he saw her short, grey jacket. Then, he remembered the report out of Atlas.

“Winter, how are you?” asked James.

Winter stepped into the room and stood at the end of the bed. Her gaze flicked over James and his t-shirt before moving up to his eyes. Winter had seen James shirtless once in their time knowing each other, and not by choice, but on the battlefield.

James couldn’t help but feel a little vulnerable, all things considered.

“I should be asking you the same question,” said Winter, voice soft. “You took quite a hit, sir.”

“So did you,” said James. “I’ve been told you were in Mantle.” He eyed her jacket. “I presume that is what that jacket of yours is about.”

Winter tilted her head slightly and pressed her lips together, glancing away from James. “The old one was covered in blood,” she said.

James raised an eyebrow. “Yours?” he guessed.

Winter met his gaze. “Taurus’.”

James’ eyes went wide. He’d been told that Winter had stepped down from active duty as a Specialist, but he hadn’t realized _that_ was the reason why.

“Did you…?” started James.

“I did,” said Winter. Despite the level tone to her voice, Winter wasn’t perfectly calm. A flicker in her jaw betrayed her clenched teeth, the shift in her shoulders as she fell into parade rest betrayed the quiver in her hidden hands, and her eyes fell to a spot above James’ head, against the wall.

“Winter,” said James, softly. “You did the right thing. It’s all right if you’re upset, you know.”

Winter shook her head, bangs falling to hide half her face. The skin near the roots was pink and raw, as if she’d scrubbed hard at it recently. “It’s not the first time I’ve killed, General,” she replied.

“That’s a bald-faced lie and you and I both know it,” said James, voice firm. Winter winced, gaze falling to the floor. “Winter,” softer this time, “you’re like a daughter to me, I’d hope you know that by now.” Winter’s shoulders twitched, barely a shrug, but there all the same. “You’ve done two mercy killings before, and you were sick for days afterwards.”

“It doesn’t matter, General. I’m no longer a Specialist,” said Winter.

“What are you going to do instead?” asked James. He shifted in bed, rolling his right shoulder. He hoped he’d get to walk around soon, make sure the rest of him was still functional, but that could take another day.

“I’m thinking of going into espionage,” said Winter, mouth quirking up on one side.

James leaned back against the wall behind the bed, raising an eyebrow. “Perhaps you and Qrow have more in common than you think,” he said, slowly.

Winter’s eyes twinkled with mirth as she said, in a half-amused tone twisted by her trying to hide a smile, “Perish the thought.” Then, slightly more serious, “I have nothing in common with your… _husband._ ” The weight of the word made James’ eyes narrow.

“How long have you known?” asked James.

Winter leaned forward on the foot of the bed, arms folded on the low bar. “That you aren’t married?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. Then, amusement returning to her voice, “Or that you’re in hopelessly in love with each other?”

James flushed, face burning and the tips of his ears turning bright red. He cleared his throat and ducked his head. To have it so blatantly tossed at him when he barely could put it to words most days was… off-putting, to say the least.

Winter pushed off the end of the bed, held it with her fingertips for a moment, then stepped back toward the door. “I have training,” she said. “I should go.” She hesitated before adding, “Whatever you decide, General, I’ll support you. You two deserve to be happy.”

“Thank you, Winter,” said James. “And, know that you and your sister will always have a home with me.”

Winter smiled and went to the door, one hand on the frame. “Thank you, General.”

“James,” said James. Winter frowned, head tilting. “You aren’t my subordinate any longer, Winter, and we’re friends. I believe that gives you first name privileges.”

“James,” said Winter, slowly. “Thank you.”

“And thank you,” said James. With that, Winter went to leave the room, only to bump into Qrow. The two eyed each other for a few long seconds, and James wondered if they were going to get into a fight with him sitting right there.

“Schnee,” said Qrow, grinning.

“Branwen,” said Winter, scoffing. She stepped passed him and walked out of the room, Qrow still grinning.

James raised his eyebrows. “Am I missing something?” he asked.

Qrow chuckled and shoved his hands in his pockets, shaking his head. “Don’t worry ‘bout it, Jim. You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” He stood at the end of James’ bed and rocked on his heels, studying the sheets near James’ feet. James could see him worrying the inside of his cheek and James frowned.

He’d thought they’d gotten past this. It seemed he was wrong.

“Qrow,” said James, voice soft. Qrow’s head came up, his expression unguarded. Concern bled into hesitation in the pull of his brow and the tightness around his mouth. “Come here,” said James. He patted the spot on the bed next to him.

On slow feet, Qrow shuffled forward and sat down on the bed next to James. He sat on an angle, his legs off the bed and his upper body turned toward James. James waited as Qrow drew one leg up onto the bed to face him completely, tucking the leg underneath himself.

“How’re you feeling?” asked Qrow. James’ gaze flickered to the bulk beneath Qrow’s shirt. Bandages, he knew. From Adam Taurus.

A man who was now but ashes in the wind.

“Fine,” said James. Qrow cocked an eyebrow at him and gave him a flat look. James fought the urge to roll his eyes – a gesture he had, no doubt, picked up from Qrow. “Really. That isn’t the first time I’ve lost that arm, Qrow,” he said.

Qrow leaned forward, resting his hands on his knee. “Last time you lost it, I think it hurt a bit more,” said Qrow.

“Actually, that’s the second time I’ve lost a prosthetic arm,” said James, drily. Qrow’s mouth dropped open and his eyes went wide, eyebrows shooting up into his bangs. James snorted, bringing his left hand up to cover his mouth as he snickered.

“What?” asked Qrow, voice flat.

“It was already prosthetic when I lost my right side,” said James. He eyed his prosthetic arm, the ball joints in the elbow and the wrist – and the shoulder, but that one was hidden – and the smooth, almost human-like quality to it. It would be a lot easier to hide under clothing, and the hand, which he still marvelled at, was almost a perfect match to his left.

No more Atlesian Knight arm.

“It looks good,” said Qrow. He reached out, almost hesitant, then froze and retracted his hand. James took the leap instead, reaching up with his right hand, still clumsy, and catching Qrow’s retreating hand. James smiled at Qrow and squeezed Qrow’s hand. Qrow smiled back.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” said Qrow. He stared at their joined hands. His gaze darted up to James’ face before flickering down a fraction, to James’ lips.

The two shifted, leaning toward each other to close the distance.

The sharp sound of two pairs of heels had them jerking apart before they even got close.

Turning his gaze, and flushed cheeks, to the door, James watched as Glynda and Weiss came into the room one after the other.

“I heard you were awake,” said Glynda. She glanced between the two of them, her gaze falling to their joined hands, and raised an eyebrow. James fought the urge to pull his hand back from Qrow’s.

He had no reason to, and besides, he was _tired_ of pretending, one way or the other.

“I am,” said James. His gaze went to Weiss, who looked a tad out of place. “It’s good to see you, Weiss.”

She smiled, playing with her hair. “Thank you, General Ironwood,” she said, giving a little curtesy. She sat down in one of the chairs and Glynda took the other. While Glynda looked at ease, there was a nervousness that clung to the edges of Weiss’ demeanour.

“How are you doing?” asked James to Weiss. “I heard about your father. Are congratulations in order regarding the Schnee Dust Company?”

Weiss smiled, but it was a sad and distant thing. “I suppose so, as I am heiress proper and will be taking over as soon as I am capable.” She frowned, looking away. “After Beacon.” The sorrow in her voice made James narrow his eyes.

“What about being a huntress?” asked James.

Weiss sighed and looked back to James and Qrow. “I came to Beacon Academy to restore the honour of Schnee family name. With my father in chains and the SDC being turned over to my mother and I as soon as we are capable, my mission is complete.” She folded her hands in her lap and frowned deeply, brow furrowing over her nose. “I’m not even sure if I’m allowed to finish Beacon.”

“I think that’s your choice, kid,” said Qrow. He squeezed James’ fingers and James squeezed back. “I don’t think your shareholders or your mom would want you to give up your schooling for the sake of your company.”

Weiss’ lips twitched up into a smile that was a tad happier than her previous one. “You make a good point,” she said.

“’Sides,” said Qrow, eyes twinkling with mischief. “I don’t think your girlfriend would like it if you dropped out.”

Weiss snorted. “Which one?” she asked, drily.

James’ eyebrows shot up. “Pardon me?” he asked, unable to keep the surprise out of his voice. It was half-masked by his own amusement, and Weiss smiled at him, looking shy.

“Turns out Yang takes more after Tai than we thought,” said Qrow. He leaned forward on his folded leg, grinning. “Just don’t let Ruby get left behind, all right?”

Weiss shook her head, eyes going wide. “I would never,” she said. “Perish the thought, Mr. Branwen.”

Qrow smiled, and James thought it was a touch bittersweet. “Good,” he said, voice soft. “Good.”

“If you ever need anything,” said James, to Weiss, “know that you can come to me. You’ll always have home in Atlas, Miss Schnee.”

Weiss smiled at him. “I’ve got other places to go first, General Ironwood. I’m being introduced to parents, apparently.” She sounded nervous, despite the joy that leaked into her voice. “First, to Menagerie, then to spend the winter in Patch, with all of Team RWBY.” She paused, tilting her head to one side. “But on holidays, I think I’d like that.”

James nodded, smiling. “I think I’d like that too.” Qrow smiled at him, and James turned his smile to Qrow as well.

Glynda looked to James, then to Qrow, and raised her eyebrows. She got to her feet, shaking her head with a sly smile on her face. “Come on Weiss, I think it’s time you and I went to check on _one_ of those lovely girls.”

Weiss flushed and bit her lower lip, nodding. “Yes, Miss Goodwitch,” she said. She got to feet and followed Glynda to the door.

“Glynda,” said James. She paused at the door and looked to James over her glasses. “Thank you, for everything.”

“Of course,” said Glynda. “We’re friends, James.”

James smiled at her and Glynda smiled back. “What about Ozpin? What does he have to say about all this?”

Glynda’s smile shifted into a smirk. “Ask him yourself,” she said. She and Weiss left and, a moment later, Ozpin appeared in the door. He didn’t come into the room, merely leaned against the door frame, cane under one arm.

“Hello, James, Qrow,” said Ozpin.

Qrow narrowed his eyes. He stabbed a finger at Ozpin, scowling. “You know, just because you helped save us in Mantle doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven you.” James squeezed Qrow’s hand and Qrow squeezed back, his expression softening as he looked back to James.

“Frankly, I don’t expect you to,” said Ozpin. He looked at James over his glasses and pressed his lips together. “I’ve done a lot of damage in the past few months, damage I suspect will take a very long time to undo.” He shook his head, almost looking sad, and continued with, “If you never forgive me, I think I’d find that reasonable.”

“We’ll see,” said James, before Qrow could say anything else. “I heard you helped in Mantle.”

“I tried,” said Ozpin. His voice was soft, forlorn, and it occurred to James that he had never seen Ozpin look so _human_ than in that moment. “Too little, too late, but I did. I’m just grateful we all got out of Mantle, even if not in one piece.” His gaze fell to James’ new arm, which James flexed the hand of.

“So, what are you doing here, then?” asked Qrow, his eyes narrowed.

Ozpin hesitated, his lips pressed together. He looked strangely small, and vulnerable, standing in that doorway. James wasn’t sure how he felt about it. Ozpin had always been this ethereal, larger than life person. Someone that James could turn to for strength and answers when no one else had them.

It had only been when all this started that that image of Ozpin had fallen away and now, seeing Ozpin standing there, looking a bit like a kicked puppy, that James finally realized just how much Ozpin had probably cultivated the image of him everyone saw: untouchable, unemotional, ethereal.

Oh, how wrong that was.

“To check in, to see how things are,” said Ozpin. He sighed. “To apologize, for everything I’ve done to you two for the past months.” Ozpin shook his head, looking away from both of them. He folded his arms and James caught the way he clenched his hands against the sleeves of his jacket. “I know something about hiding who you are for the sake of your people, for the sake of safety – yours and others’.” He shook his head. “I never should have pressured you two, especially not the way I did. It was _wrong_ and worse, it forced you into outing yourselves.” Ozpin looked to them both, something sad in his eyes that went deeper than his words. “No one should ever be forced to come out before they’re ready.”

Qrow and James looked at each other, and James suspected they were thinking the same thing: what the hell was that about?

Ozpin cleared his throat. “Right, apologizing.” His ears turned pink, his cheeks flushing slightly, and James suspected Ozpin thought he’d said too much. “I’ll understand if you’d rather not speak with me much anymore.”

“We’ll see,” said James. “The apology helps a lot.”

“Yeah,” said Qrow. “So does saving our asses in Mantle.” He shrugged, eyes narrowed. “Still mad, though.”

“Understandably,” said Ozpin, nodding. Then, turning his gaze to James, he said, “I’ve been notified that the Schnee Dust Company will be run by its shareholders for some time.” He raised an eyebrow at James, something in his eyes that James couldn’t place. “You are shareholder, are you not, James?”

“I am,” agreed James. He squeezed Qrow’s hand and Qrow looked at him, brow furrowed. “But I think I’ve had enough responsibility for now.” Qrow smiled at him, eyes going soft, and James smiled back. “I’d like to step back for a bit, especially now that the school year is over. Spend some time with friends and family.”

Ozpin nodded. “That sounds like a wonderful plan.” He stepped off the door. “I’ll leave you to it.” With that, he turned and left, and James and Qrow looked to one another.

“You ever get that feeling…,” started Qrow.

“That Ozpin’s hiding something?” finished James. Qrow nodded. “All the time.” Both of them looked out the door, frowning slightly. James turned his attention back to Qrow and cleared his throat. “I am serious, you know. I do want to spend time with the people I care about over the holiday.” He shifted so he was more upright and reached out with his left hand, holding one of Qrow’s hands in both of his own. “Namely, you.”

Qrow watched him, lips pressed into a thin line. He looked away from James, pulling his hand away, and James’ heart panged painfully.

What had he done wrong this time?

Qrow turned to the side and gripped the edges of the bed until his knuckles turned white. “You know, I never did tell you what was on that message you erased,” he said, staring at the tiled floor.

James frowned. “No, you didn’t,” he said, slowly. Fear crept up his throat, choking out the rest of his words. After everything that had happened, he had no idea what to expect next.

What could Qrow want to say to him that was so important?

Was he leaving?

“What was it?” asked James, when Qrow still didn’t speak.

“When we started doing this, I wasn’t just doing it for other people, or for my nieces,” said Qrow, still not looking at James. Tension ran up his back and James resisted the urge to reach out and hold Qrow. “I did it for me, too.”

James’ eyebrows went up. That, he hadn’t expected.

Qrow looked to James, his expression as open and vulnerable as James had ever seen it. “I’ve cared about you for a long time, Jim. Just never let myself admit it.” His voice cracked on the last word and James watched Qrow, lips parting. Qrow swallowed hard, opened his mouth a few times, and shook his head. “You think after everything, this wouldn’t be so damn _hard_ , especially since I’ve already done it once.”

“Qrow,” said James, voice hoarse. “What are you saying?”

Qrow looked him in the eye and said, in a soft and shaky voice, “I’m saying I’m in love with you, and I don’t want this to end.”

James lost his breath, his chest going tight and his heart jackhammering against his lungs. He stared at Qrow, eyes growing wide and mouth falling open. Saw the way Qrow winced and looked away from James, cheeks burning red.

James reached out and caught Qrow’s closest hand, pulling it to him to lace it with his right hand. “Qrow,” said James, “look at me.”

He did, fear naked on his face. James lifted Qrow’s hand and pressed a kiss to his knuckles.

“Jim…”

“I love you, too,” said James, looking Qrow in the eye. “And I don’t _ever_ want this to end.”

Qrow broke into a smile, a breathless laugh slipping past his lips. That was James’ only warning before Qrow launched himself at James, and then he had an armful of Qrow, who nuzzled his cheek with his own.

“Happy?” asked James. Qrow hummed and curled close to him, pressing a kiss to his jaw. James kissed his hair in return. “Me too.” He held Qrow close and Qrow held him back, the two of them revelling in the truth and the contact.

“You know, we kind of did this backwards,” said Qrow, drily. He pulled back from James, one hand on his chest, and grinned at him. “First we got married, then we fell in love, and now…”

“Now we actually date,” said James, shaking his head. He chuckled, looking to Qrow. “That is, if you want to.”

Qrow grinned at him. “Yeah, I do. We’re gonna turn Atlas upside down with us.” He nudged James with one hand, looking mischievous. “ _And_ I can show you some of my favourite haunts, ones where you don’t have to get dressed to the nines to get in.”

James rolled his eyes. “Sure,” said James. “Why not?” He hesitated a moment, then said, “Are you certain about Atlas?”

“They already think we’re married,” said Qrow. “What else could we do?”

“I meant coming back with me,” said James. And oh, the marriage was something else to talk about. “Do you want to?”

Qrow nodded, looking more serious now. “Yeah, I do. I mean, I don’t know what we’re going to do when school starts up again, since I seem to be teaching _here_ now, but we’ll figure it out.”

James reached up and brushed Qrow’s bangs from his face. “Yes, we will,” he said. “We should also figure out this marriage of ours.”

Qrow cocked his head. “Can’t really undo it without doing more harm than good, yeah?” James nodded. Qrow shrugged. “Then let people think we’re married. At least this time it’ll be a bit more authentic. And if we ever do anything, we’ll just match dates.”

James smiled, biting the inside of his cheek to keep himself from grinning. “That works,” agreed James. He tugged Qrow forward and Qrow came easily enough, resting their foreheads together.

“So, what now?” asked James. “What do you want to do now that all this is over?”

Qrow furrowed his brow and pursed his lips, looking thoughtful. “Lunch?” he suggested, with a teasing smile. “I know this place in town that’ll deliver to Beacon.” His eyes twinkled with mischief and James found himself grinning back at Qrow.

James reached up and cupped Qrow’s face in his right hand, his grin falling away to a small smile when Qrow leaned into the touch. Then, James guided Qrow forward and the two kissed. Qrow hummed into it, deepening it for a but a moment, then they pulled back, foreheads rested together.

“I’m gonna make that order,” said Qrow, softly. James nodded and held on to one of Qrow’s hands as Qrow leaned back to make a call on his scroll.

There was still a lot to be done, James knew. A lot of people to talk to, a lot of things to sort out, and he knew his vacation wouldn’t be a long one, that he had many responsibilities – though fewer than before – awaiting him in Atlas. But all of that seemed small in the face of everything that had come before.

For now, he was content to listen to Qrow order lunch. Everything else could wait until tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _In the Public Eye_ has been a hell of an adventure. It was my first real crack at long-running canon divergence in RWBY, and I had a lot of fun creating it. It's hard to believe that it all started with some dorky fake dating posts on Tumblr and grew to be this massive thing. After 42 chapters, 13 months, and over 110,000 words, I'm proud to say that this story is complete. This has been one of the harder fics of the first round of long-fics for RWBY. It fought me every step of the way from about Chapter 20 on, and I remember going over it so many times and thinking it would never be complete, never be good enough.
> 
> Ultimately, I am proud of what I've accomplished here, and proud that I've managed to complete the fic. It's not often you get to wrap up two long-runners at the same time, so I'm glad to see them both through to completion. With the posting of this chapter, I only have one of my RWBY long-runners from winter of 2016 left - Static on the Radio. I cannot tell you how incredible that is to me. To go from rarely finishing anything to finishing four long fics - ranging from 50k to 130k - in less than a year is mind-blowing.
> 
> I want to thank everyone who stuck with this story throughout its twists and turns, its bumps and bruises, and its many hiatuses. Without all of you cheering me on, it never would have been completed, nor would it be the great story that it has become. So thank you, all of you, and know that _In the Public Eye_ is dedicated to each and every one of you.
> 
> So, that's all from me. If you still have an itch for ironqrow, feel free to go check out the rest of my WIPs and fics - god knows I have plenty. Otherwise, take care, be safe, and have a fantastic day. See you all next time!
> 
> And remember, comments are love! <3


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